Where is Tadaryl Shipp, the then boyfriend of Christa Pike with whom she brutally killed her schoolmate Colleen Slemmer in 1995

Christa Gail Pike, convicted of murdering a schoolmate three decades ago, is set to become the first woman to be executed in the state of Tennessee in more than 200 years. Pike will be administered the lethal injection on Wednesday (September 30), after the US Supreme Court denied a last-minute plea to halt the execution. Pike, aged 50, was 18 at the time of the crime, which she had committed alongside her then boyfriend Tadaryl Shipp. While Pike's case has remained in the limelight over her death sentence, let's take a look at Shipp and his whereabouts.

When did the crime happen?

In January 1995, Pike and Shipp thrashed, tortured, and killed Colleen Slemmer, a 19-year-old they had met at a job training camp in Knoxville city of Tennessee. Pike had accused Slemmer of insulting her and trying to steal her boyfriend. The brutality of the crime by the teenagers had led to a media frenzy in the area.


Several residents at the camp later testified that Pike had bragged about the murder before and after committing it, and even showed them a piece of Slemmer's skull, which she had kept as a souvenir.

Where is Tadaryl Shipp?

While Pike was sentenced to death, Shipp, who was 17 when the crime took place, was handed a life sentence with the possibility of parole. He has been in custody for over 31 years, since January 1995.

In October 2025, Shipp's parole hearing was held at the Northwest Correctional Complex in Tiptonville, but he was denied the relief due to the "seriousness of the offense". His case is scheduled to be reviewed again in October 2031.

Supreme Court rejects plea

The US Supreme Court has rejected Pike's final request for a stay on the execution, slated to take place at the Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville. She is the only woman on death row in Tennessee. In August 2001, she was also convicted of attempted first-degree murder in an assault case involving another inmate, according to the Tennessee Department of Correction.

In a 226-page petition, Pike's lawyers had urged Tennessee Governor Bill Lee to commute her punishment to a life ‌sentence. Her defence team documented her history of childhood sexual abuse, abandonment, and neglect, also citing her diagnoses for bipolar disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

'She should pay for it'

Slemmer's mother, May Martinez, has ​voiced her support for the execution. "She (Pike) did the crime. I think she should pay for it," Martinez had said on Knoxville TV station WBIR in 2021.