On October 1, 2026 the State of Tennessee tried to execute Christa Pike and she survived. I don’t know where to begin because I am at a loss for words.
Christa Pike is an incarcerated person and let’s establish that here and now – she is a PERSON and not a prisoner, or inmate or whatever other stereotype word uninformed people have for those who are incarcerated – and she is on death row in Tennessee for a crime she committed when she was a teen girl. Christa has been on death row for 32 years.
The State of Tennessee went to put her to death using so-called lethal drugs, of which their sourcing and particular nature are kept secret due to America’s growing opposition toward the death penalty. For nearly an hour onlookers watched as Christa Pike endured being poisoned to death.
Then, more than 60 minutes after it began Christa Pike was rushed to a hospital.
By now many of you reading this will have searched Christa Pike and read about her torturous execution (which will no doubt be attempted again if history is any guide), read about the crime that put her on death row; and, about her accomplices who struck deals with the State of Tennessee to testify against her and save their own skin despite all three having participated in the murder of a schoolmate.
What you don’t know about Christa Pike is that she was a child who grew up in an impoverished household and endured physical and mental abuse. She lived in a dysfunctional family that didn’t nurture her in the critical developmental years as a child that we now know are important. By the time she was 18 she suffered from numerous traumas. I know all of this because I got to know Christa Pike.
She and I regularly wrote to each other but I lost contact with her shortly after the Covid pandemic and I understand why. Just mentally making it through another day on death row or even writing a simple letter was often difficult for her. In her letters to me she expressed her struggles and fears, all of which were trauma-related.
Christa is a bright girl who is optimistic but struggles to cope with traumas wrought from her childhood. She often told me how she had worked to overcome her traumas and to heal.
The thing that struck me about Christa was how caring she seemed. She often talked about simply wanting to be loved. She shared her dreams of walking on the grass again, of being outside again, and of someday being able to travel to places in the world.
She shared with me the love she had for her family. Despite all that she endured in her childhood, she truly loved her family. I love my family and I think most readers do too. She cherished the few visits she received and looked forward to the day where she could be with family again. This despite knowing she may never leave death row.
In the press Christa Pike is painted as a monster. People that do not know her have offered up their opinions to support this assertion. There is nearly nothing in the media that speaks to who Christa Pike is, but only of her worst moment in life. It is easy to dismiss a person sentenced to death when we label them as less than human.
What Christa and her friends did to a classmate in the woods one day a lifetime ago is inexcusable. It is obvious to anyone who reads about that day that Christa Pike did not arrive at that moment in a positive mental capacity. As a teen she was a follower, and greatly influenced by her accomplices. She has been severely punished for her actions, while her accomplices walk free.
I believe that we all atone for our sins, When we commit crime we fare punishment and I accept that. But, when is punishment enough? Is it when we reach the stated end of a court ordered sentence or are released by a parole board or other governing authority? Is it when we reach a point in our lives where we have changed our thinking and overcome our traumas? Or is it when we are tortured for an hour in a botched execution yet survive?
The death penalty has been abolished in nearly every Western nation in the world. The United States holds itself in company with countries like Sudan, China, Russia, and Iran with clinging to the death penalty. We sacrifice a piece of our humanity when society clings to revenge.
Christa Pike is a human being who loves and dreams of a better life and a better world. She cherishes thoughts of the past and of comfort that time and trauma have not yet stolen from her. She loves her family and friends. These are the things she talked about with me.
The one thing that recurred in our letters was how she felt deep remorse for what she and her friends did. She owned her past and never once tried to shirk acceptance and responsibility. She even spoke of a hopeful future that she believed could still come true.
However, in our letters I realized that Christa Pike was in many ways still a teenage girl. She known not life past 18 years old, she only knows four walls with a steel door. When we come to prison, it has a way of arresting mental development. Unless you are aware of
This truth, you will always have one mental foot chained in the past. This is the Christa Pike our society wishes to kill.
Now she lies in a hospital between life and death. The State of Tennessee tried for an hour to kill this girl and failed.
Has Christa Pike paid her debt to society? Or are we no more civil than the animals?
** Since this essay was written Christa Pike was discharged from hospital and is again back on death row.
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