Christa Pike's failed execution on Wednesday has brought her murder of Colleen Slemmer back into the headlines as the 50-year-old survived two lethal injections but remains unconscious. She was sentenced to death in 1996 for the murder of classmate Colleen Slemmer in January 1995.
However, Pike did not act alone, and carried out the brutal fatal attack in Tennessee woodland with two accomplices, including her then-boyfriend, Tadaryl Shipp.
Shipp's different path since conviction
But Shipp will never be executed for his crimes, meaning he has had a very different life since his conviction. While Pike has sat on death row, Shipp has been eligible to walk free from prison, reports People Magazine.
That's because Pike was 18 when the offence took place, while Shipp was 17 — so considered a minor.
Details of the murder
In his trial, jurors were told Shipp, Pike, and another accomplice Shadolla Peterson — who accepted a plea deal to testify against the others — lured Colleen Slemmer from their dorm rooms at the Knoxville Job Corps. They then took Slemmer to a nearby woodland, tortured her with a box cutter, and killed her, leaving her in the woods.
The trio went back to their dorms. They were arrested 36 hours later.
In their trials and in subsequent interviews, it has been suggested Satanic Worship played a role in the motive for the killing, as has a theory that Slemmer was a love rival for Shipp's affections. Pike and Shipp were in a relationship at the time.
Shipp's sentence and parole status
After a trial, Shipp was sentenced to life imprisonment in 1997, more than two years on from the murder. He is currently jailed in the Northwest Correctional Complex in Tiptonville, Lake County, Tennessee, per inmate records.
He was first eligible for parole last year, but it was denied. He will next be eligible for parole in 2031.
Pike is now on a ventilator after a last-minute court hearing ruled she could be the first woman executed in Tennessee for 200 years, but the procedure failed in horrifying circumstances. The failure has left people on both sides of the death penalty debate demanding answers, and the state's governor has ordered an independent review.
In an interview with NBC News on Thursday, Colleen's mum, May Martinez, described the failed execution as a "mess".
