Tennessee Inmate Christa Pike’s Case and Accomplice’s Parole Details

Uncertainty surrounds the future of Tennessee death row inmate Christa Pike following a failed execution attempt last week. Meanwhile, her accomplice and former boyfriend, Tadaryl Shipp, will not have another parole hearing for at least five years. Shipp and Pike were involved in the 1995 torture and murder of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer in Knoxville.

At the time of the crime, Shipp was 17 years old. He and others tortured and killed Slemmer, their classmate from a vocational school. The crime involved ‘satanic elements’ and continues to haunt investigators 31 years later. Prosecutors claim Shipp restrained Slemmer when she attempted to escape and carved pentagrams into her chest and face.

“It was a grotesque crime scene,” former Knoxville Police Chief Phil Keith stated. “It was one of the worst crime scenes I’d witnessed. I was with the police department almost 34 years.”

Due to his age, Shipp could not face the death penalty. Instead, he received a life sentence for first-degree murder and 25 years for conspiracy to commit first-degree murder. Shipp currently serves his sentence at Tennessee’s Northwest Correctional Complex. Court documents reveal Shipp’s early exploration of satanism and the discovery of ‘satanic paraphernalia’ in his dorm room.

Tennessee prison records reveal Shipp later adopted the name Abdul Khalip. In 2016, he filed a federal lawsuit, which was unsuccessful, seeking access to halal food and Islamic prayer oils in prison.

Shipp became eligible for parole in October 2025 but was denied. His next parole hearing is scheduled for October 2031. His latest mugshot from June 2024 shows Shipp with glasses and a salt-and-pepper beard.

Christa Pike, convicted of the murder, slashed Slemmer multiple times and crushed her head with a chunk of asphalt. Pike even kept a skull fragment as a trophy, showing it off to another classmate before her arrest. She received a death sentence but remains hospitalized in critical condition after two doses of lethal injection drugs failed.

Another suspect, Shadolla Peterson, pleaded guilty to being an accessory after the fact, testifying against Pike and Shipp.