Sunny Hostin Is Finally a Lone Holdout, Opposes Execution of Murderer

Nicholas Fondacaro
October 9th, 2026 3:23 PM

Text to Speech

00:00 00:00
Font Size
ABC via SnapStream

Much as been said and much ink has been spilled about ABC’s Sunny Hostin’s recent controversy with claiming to the lone holdout juror for a high-profile murder case, before evidence and her admission flipped the notion on its head. However, during Friday’s episode of The View, Hostin became the lone holdout on the panel to oppose a second shot at executing Christa Pike for her heinous murder of Colleen Slemmer.

“I am fundamentally against capital punishment, perhaps it's my Catholic teaching,” Hostin proclaimed. “…Catholicism teaches us that human life is sacred from conception until natural death. And so, capital punishment is something that I don't think we should be doing as society.”

Despite co-host Sara Haines noting that the Supreme Court had previously backed reattempting executions, Hostin still insisted it was a constitutional violation: “[U]nder the Eighth Amendment to the Constitution, I think now she -- this does qualify as cruel and unusual punishment. I don't think that she should be executed again.”

It’s very hypocritical for Hostin to fall back on her purported devout Catholicism and preach about what “we should be doing as a society” when she supported abortion.

 

 

While Hostin claimed she believed “human life is sacred from conception until natural death,” she has applauded rising abortion rates and decried the Catholic Church for denying then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi communion for her abortion stance. She’s previously summarized her position as: she was against abortions for her but thought others should be able to have it as an option.

Well Sunny, if your position is ‘don’t like abortion? Don’t have one,” then how about ‘don’t like capital punishment? Don’t execute anyone.’

Again, of the five-person panel, Hostin was the odd one out.

Moderator Whoopi Goldberg began the conversation by arguing that state officials should take the wishes of Slemmer’s family into account. They appeared to want Pike dead (Click “expand”):

I just want to say the victim, Colleen Slemmer's mother, her name is Mae Martinez. She and her family raised money to drive to Nashville from Florida to witness the execution they had been promised for 31 years.

They are rightfully frustrated that that promise has not been kept and me personally, I think you should ask the mother what should happen now. I think they should ask her. Because, you know, they tortured her daughter and there's a reason she [Pike] was where she was, but I think it's not -- it's not a question that the state should answer.

 

 

Co-host Ana Navarro agreed with Goldberg and commended her for keeping the focus on Slemmer, "the true victim." She said the story was "driving me crazy" because many were treating Pike like "the victim." "I'm with you. I think the victim's family needs to lead," she added.

 

 

Haines also argued that trying the execution again was not cruel and inhuman, but what Pike did was. "It's cruel and inhumane to beat someone with a rock over their head and then carve a pentagram on their chest and send 30 minutes torturing them and them dying," she argued.

Adding: "I don't think humanity is the part that's at stake.”

 

 

“[T]hey say justice delayed is justice denied. And I am somebody who, in extreme cases, supports capital punishment. I think it is something in a civil society you have to have,” declared Alyssa Farah Griffin. “And by the way, Christa Pike never took responsibility, never admitted any kind of remorse. Zero remorse. Zero at all.”

At least Hostin was able to live out her fantasy of being a lone holdout.

The transcript is below. Click "expand" to read:

ABC’s The View
October 9, 2026
11:03:19 a.m. Eastern

(…)

WHOOPI GOLDBERG: So, now people are asking if the state is going to attempt to execute her again, or if that amounts to cruel and unusual punishment at this point.

I just want to say the victim, Colleen Slemmer's mother, her name is Mae Martinez. She and her family raised money to drive to Nashville from Florida to witness the execution they had been promised for 31 years.

They are rightfully frustrated that that promise has not been kept and me personally, I think you should ask the mother what should happen now. I think they should ask her. Because, you know, they tortured her daughter and there's a reason she [Pike] was where she was, but I think it's not -- it's not a question that the state should answer.

ANA NAVARRO: I fully agree with you and I'm glad that every time we’ve talked about this you have led with mentioning the true victim's name, Colleen Slemmer, and her mother, Mae Martinez. Because, you know, this is just driving me crazy. It feels all of a sudden like the woman who tortured the 18-year-old and killed the 18-year-old girl has now become the victim.

I am, you know, outraged at the state that couldn't get this one thing right after 31 years and that has made this family, that has suffered so much, the worst loss that you could possibly suffer, has waited for over three decades and now have to go through this and see the assassin, the killer, the convicted killer, treated as if she was the victim in this case.

So I'm with you. I think it's -- I think the victim's family needs to lead.

SARA HAINES: I agree with the family part, but I tend to think that this was botched by the government and the state and this was an already decided sentence for her.

And so, when people say, you know, ‘Oh, is it cruel and inhumane’ it's cruel and inhumane to beat someone with a rock over their head and then carve a pentagram on their chest and send 30 minutes torturing them and them dying. So, I don't think humanity right now is the part that was at stake.

This was decided and there is a precedent, the Supreme Court in 1947 ruled on another botched execution of a 17-year-old, Willie Francis who survived the electric chair and Louisiana ended up electrocuting him a second time. So, I’m not saying that talking about this is easy, it's still a human life. I'm also not commenting on the morality or ethics of death penalty, but in this case it kills me that the family is going through this right now watching something messed up not by them.

ALYSSA FARAH GRIFFIN: That's what frustrates me, is there needs to be an investigation into what went wrong here and they need to make sure that this never happens in the future, why this was botched by the state.

But they say justice delayed is justice denied. And I am somebody who, in extreme cases, supports capital punishment. I think it is something in a civil society you have to have.

But part of this problem is we have this appellate process that goes on for decades and decades and decades, and even though a killer has convicted in the court, they have had their day in court, they have been convicted, the families wait for decades before they ever get that peace and that closing of the door of having them actually see through to the execution.

Now, I don't know if there is a way you could fix that. The people are entitled to all of that - hat appeals process. But, I mean, I just think this has been nearly 30 years that this family has been missing their child, who they are never getting to see grow up, and I just hope that there's some resolution and peace at this point.

GOLDBERG: Remember, Sunny pointed out some good things that people don't know. I will let you do that again, about how this gets botched when you don't have people who know what they're --

SUNNY HOSTIN: Yeah, one. Problems -- I am fundamentally against capital punishment, perhaps it's my Catholic teaching.

Pope Leo made it really clear that Catholicism teaches us that human life is sacred from conception until natural death. And so, capital punishment is something that I don't think we should be doing as society.

But one of the things that I brought up when we discussed this before is that because of the Hippocratic Oath, doctors and nurses and medical professionals are not part of the execution process because they took an oath to do no harm. And so, what you often have is people that aren't medically trained performing these executions and that's why a lot of times they do get botched.

In terms of this case, the eighth -- you know, under the Eighth Amendment to the Constitution, I think now she -- this does qualify as cruel and unusual punishment. I don't think that she should be executed again.

And while what she did is horribly heinous, her boyfriend that was 17 at the time is in prison for the rest of his life and I think life imprisonment would be appropriate right now at this time.

NAVARRO: Because he was a minor.

HOSTIN: She was 18, she was a year older. He was 17. They both participated in this heinous crime. He’s in prison for the rest of his life.

FARAH GRIFFIN: And by the way, Christa Pike never took responsibility, never admitted any kind of remorse. Zero remorse. Zero at all.

GOLDBERG: Listen, and as you also pointed out, there are so many times when they don't have the right person behind bars and that's why you want to take the time to make sure you've got the right person. But to do that to somebody and then to watch -- again, to watch -- have to watch it again, watch your kid get killed again because someone couldn't get it right, you know.

And this is the beautiful thing about The View. We disagree, but we're still friends. We’ll be right back.

Donor Privacy Policy