Sign petition against the execution of Christa Pike: the only woman on tennesse death row for 30 years. TW: depictions of SA and violence.
Personal note: I do not believe that any of the things written below justify the horrific crime that she took part in, and don't support her past actions; however, it must be recognized her death penalty is unnecessary murder, which will not reverse past events or heal the victim's family's wounds - just kill a remorseful woman who commited a mistake decades ago, behind which stood a disgustingly traumatic childhood, brain damage and untreated mental illness.
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Christa was raped during her childhood: It is confirmed that Christa Pike has survived severe sexual assault on multiple occasions during her life, for which she never got justice or support, which impacted her mental state at the time of the offence and greatly contributed to the development of her PTSD. Her first encounter with assault occurred when she was just a toddler, during which a man repeatedly shoved his genitals into her mouth and threatened her not to tell on him, locking her in a chicken coop. Despite the school contacting the family due to a concerning drawing on the prompt "What do you do at home?", justice was never brought to the man, and no efforts were made to contact the PD. She was raped again at 11 by a neighbour, who, for his action, received minimal consequences, followed by a suicide attempt at 12, and another rape at age 17.
She suffered from untreated mental illness: Her mother drank heavily during pregnancy, resulting in damage to Christa's brain and, due to her rapes and non-sexual physical abuse (which she endured from at least 7 family members), she proceeded to develop Bipolar Disorder and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.
She will be the youngest ever to be sentenced to death in the state: Scientists confirmed that her brain wasn't fully developed at the time of Colleen Slemmer's murder, which almost certainly would have been a contributing factor to the crime. That being taken into account, the youngest person executed in the state of Tennessee in the modern era was 23 years old at the time of offence, 6 years older than Pike.
Her accomplice is soon eligible for parole: Tadaryl Shipp, with whom Christa was in an abusive relationship, received a life sentence and will be eligible for parole in 2030, whereas Christa is to undergo capital punishment. Despite Shipp being supposedly the real mastermind behind the murder, Christa took the blame on herself to provide her boyfriend a lesser punishment. In fact, Shipp's manipulative actions are what led to the murder in the first place.
Human rights violation: After a thorough investigation, the Inter-American Human Rights Commission discovered that the state of Tennessee violated the human rights of Christa Pike on multiple occasions throughout her conviction.
She is immensely remorseful: after receiving treatment for her mental health problems, she was shocked that she would be capable of such a crime, saying the following: “There is no excuse for what I did. There are reasons for the way that I acted, but nothing excuses the crime and the damage it has caused to so many lives.”
If I know one thing, it's that everyone deserves to live, and so does she. Whatever your opinion may be, you are reasonable, but if you want to save a woman's life ruined by a horrible mistake that she made in a state of derangement, I highly encourage you to sign the petition.