Tadaryl Shipp, the then-boyfriend of Christa Pike, was convicted alongside her for the murder of Colleen Slemmer, but unlike Pike, he did not face the death penalty. Shipp, who was 17 at the time of the offence, was considered a minor and therefore sentenced to life imprisonment rather than death.
Murder of Colleen Slemmer
Pike was sentenced to death in 1996 for the murder of classmate Colleen Slemmer in January 1995. The fatal attack took place in Tennessee woodland, where Pike, Shipp, and another accomplice, Shadolla Peterson, lured Slemmer from their dorm rooms at the Knoxville Job Corps. Peterson accepted a plea deal to testify against the others.
The trio took Slemmer to nearby woodland, tortured her with a box cutter, and killed her, leaving her body in the woods. They then returned to their dorms and were arrested 36 hours later. In trials and subsequent interviews, suggestions have been made that Satanic Worship played a role in the motive, as has a theory that Slemmer was a love rival for Shipp's affections, as Pike and Shipp were in a relationship at the time.
Shipp's Sentence and Parole
After a trial, Shipp was sentenced to life imprisonment in 1997, more than two years after 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's Failed Execution
Pike, now 50, survived two lethal injections last Wednesday and remains in hospital. She 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".
