The Debra K. Johnson Rehabilitation Center (formerly the Tennessee Prison for Women) is a concrete slab of a fortress sitting on the outskirts of Nashville.

For nearly 30 years, the prison has been home to a woman named Christa Pike.

But maybe not for much longer.

The Tennessee Supreme Court on Tuesday set execution dates for four people, including Pike, the only woman on death row. She is slated to catch the Night Train to Nowheresville on Sept. 30, 2026.

When I interviewed Pike, now 49, more than two decades ago, she was the youngest woman on death row in America, and she had female company on death row. Gaile Owens looked like everyone’s grandma, except for the fact that she orchestrated the murder of her husband.

Owens had her death sentence commuted in 2010. But I digress.

Chris

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