Shipp Faces 2031 Parole Review After Pike Survives Execution

Tennessee authorities are investigating a failed execution involving death row inmate Christa Pike while her former boyfriend and accomplice, Tadaryl Shipp, remains imprisoned for the 1995 torture and murder of Colleen Slemmer in Knoxville. Shipp, who was 17 when the crime occurred, was denied parole in October 2025 and is scheduled for another review in October 2031. Pike's attorney said on October 7, 2026, that she had regained consciousness after surviving two doses of lethal injection drugs.

According to court records and reports from USA TODAY and Fox News, Shipp was convicted of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit first-degree murder in 1997. He received a life sentence plus 25 years and is incarcerated at Tennessee's Northwest Correctional Complex. Because he was a juvenile at the time of the killing, he was not eligible for the death penalty under the applicable state law.

The October 2031 proceeding is a parole review, not a scheduled release. Reporting by Clarin states that the Tennessee Board of Parole denied Shipp's first application in October 2025, citing the severity of the offense. His continued incarceration will depend on the board's assessment, and the next hearing does not guarantee his freedom.

Former Knoxville Police Chief Phil Keith described the investigation's aftermath while speaking to Fox News Digital about the case.

"It was a grotesque crime scene," said Phil Keith, former Knoxville Police Chief.

Keith also told the outlet that Shipp showed no remorse after his arrest and fell asleep during questioning. Court records indicate that investigators found items associated with Satanism in Shipp's dorm room, while Shipp and Pike were wearing pentagram necklaces when they were arrested.

According to court records cited by USA TODAY, Shipp told police he had "had dabbled in satanism since he was 10 years old," and described the items in his room as "satanic paraphernalia." He also said he believed Slemmer could be "a satanic sacrifice." Prosecutors accused him of restraining Slemmer when she attempted to escape and carving pentagrams into her body during the attack.

The killing occurred on January 12, 1995, after Pike, Shipp and Shadolla Peterson, fellow participants in the Job Corps training program in Knoxville, lured 19-year-old Slemmer into the woods. According to court records, Pike and Shipp attacked her, inflicting severe injuries before she died. Investigators found her body the following day.

Pike later received a death sentence for her role in the murder. Prosecutors said she struck Slemmer with a heavy object and inflicted additional injuries. Court records also state that Pike kept a fragment of the victim's skull and showed it to another person before her arrest.

Attention returned to Pike's case after Tennessee attempted to execute her by lethal injection on September 30, 2026. She survived two doses of pentobarbital and was transported to a hospital in the Nashville area. Her attorney, Randy Spivey, said on October 7 that Pike had regained consciousness and begun speaking.

"She is angry and confused about everything right now," said Randy Spivey, Pike's attorney.

Spivey also said Pike was "very aware the state tried to execute her." He reported that she had developed a blood clot in one arm, pneumonia and swelling in her hands and arms. She was unable to swallow or move her arms, and the extent of her recovery remained uncertain at the time of his statement.

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee ordered an investigation into the failed execution and canceled the state's only remaining lethal injection scheduled for 2026. Department of Correction Commissioner Frank Strada also announced his resignation following the incident.

The third person involved in Slemmer's murder received a substantially different sentence. According to USA TODAY and court records, Peterson pleaded guilty to being an accessory after the fact and received six years of probation, with credit for 460 days spent in jail. Prosecutors said they could establish her presence at the killing but would have faced difficulties proving that she participated directly in the attack.

Peterson's attorney told the Knoxville News Sentinel in 1996 that she acknowledged being present but denied taking part in the assault and said she had not known Slemmer would be killed. Peterson also cooperated with investigators and provided testimony against Pike and Shipp.

Shipp's prison history includes an unsuccessful federal lawsuit in 2016 seeking access to halal food and Islamic prayer oils, according to Fox News. Prison records cited by the outlet indicate that he later adopted the name Abdul Khalip. His next parole review remains scheduled for October 2031.