While Christa Pike didn't act alone in the crime that landed her on death row, the two others involved in the 1995 murder of Colleen Slemmer met less severe punishments.
Pike, Tadaryl Shipp and Shadolla Peterson were all students at Jobs Corps, a training program in Knoxville, Tennessee, when they lured Slemmer, a classmate, into the woods on Jan. 12, 1995.
There, Pike and Shipp, a couple at the time, tortured Slemmer and bludgeoned her to death. They were both later convicted of the crime, while Peterson pled guilty and walked away with probation, according to court records.
The grisly crime has garnered renewed interest after Pike's botched execution by lethal injection on Sept. 30. She was transported to a hospital and has since regained consciousness
and is speaking, her attorney said on Oct. 7.
Here's what to know about the other assailants in the case that's capturing national attention.
Christa Pike accomplice Tadaryl Shipp serving life sentence
Shipp was convicted of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit first-degree murder at a 1997 trial. He was sentenced to life and 25 years in prison, according to court and inmate records.
Because Shipp was 17 at the time of the crime, he could not get the death penalty under state law.
After Slemmer's murder, Shipp told police he "had dabbled in satanism since he was 10 years old," according to a 1998 appellate ruling.
When he and Pike were taken into custody two days after the murder, they were both wearing pentagram necklaces, and Shipp told police he had "satanic paraphernalia" in his room at the Job Corps campus.
Shipp told police he carved a pentagram into Slemmer's chest because he thought she could be "a satanic sacrifice."
According to WATE and WBIR, Shipp was denied parole in October 2025. The 48-year-old will be eligible for parole again in 2031.
Other accomplice, Shadolla Peterson, got probation
Peterson, the other individual involved in the crime, pleaded guilty to being an accessory and received a sentence of six years probation, per court documents.
She took a plea deal from prosecutors and received credit for 460 days in jail, according to a 1996 article in the Knoxville News Sentinel, part of the USA TODAY Network.
While Peterson had initially been indicted on a murder charge, prosecutors said if the case had gone to trial, they would only have proof that she was present at the murder, not that she was involved in the killing, according to the article.
The public defender who represented Peterson told the outlet at the time that she admitted to being present at the killing but denied taking part in the attack and did not know Slemmer was going to be murdered.
What did Christa Pike do?
On Jan. 12, 1995, Pike asked Slemmer to accompany her to a Blockbuster store before luring her into the woods, she told police.
Pike – who had brought a box cutter and meat cleaver with her – and Shipp attacked Slemmer, bludgeoning her and eventually cutting her stomach and throat with the box cutter, according to court documents.
During the attack, as Slemmer bargained for her life, Pike "told Slemmer to 'shut up' because it 'was harderto hurt somebody when they’re talking to you,'" she later told police, per court documents.
Shipp also carved a pentagram into Slemmer's chest, and Pike – who told police she believed Slemmer was interested in her boyfriend – later showed off a piece of Slemmer's skull to a friend.
Slemmer's body was found on Jan. 13, 1995. A Tennessee Grounds Department employee first mistook her body for the corpse of an animal because of how badly she had been beaten, according to court records.
Born on Sept. 20, 1975, Slemmer was raised in Orange Park, Florida, but moved to Knoxville to enroll in Jobs Corps, according to court records and the Nashville Tennessean, part of the USA TODAY Network.
May Martinez, Slemmer's mother, told WBIR-TV that her daughter loved roller skating, computers and playing old games with her family.
"She was a nerd," Martinez told the station. "But a good nerd."
Christa Pike latest: Attorney says she is 'angry' after botched execution
Officials in Tennessee attempted to execute Pike on Sept. 30, but she survived two doses of pentobarbital injections and was taken to a Nashville-area hospital.
Pike's attorney Randy Spivey said she woke up and began speaking on Oct. 7. He believes the first words she said were, "where am I and who are you?"
"She is angry and confused about everything right now," Spivey said, adding that she is "very aware the state tried to execute her."
Pike has a blood clot in one of her arms, pneumonia and swelling in her hands and arms, Spivey said. She is unable to swallow or move her arms and it's unclear what kind of function she will regain.
Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee has ordered an investigation into what went wrong and called off the state's only remaining lethal injection this year. Department of Correction Commissioner Frank Strada also announced his resignation after the incident.
Contributing: N'dea Yancey-Bragg, Molly Davis, Amanda Lee Myers, Evan Mealins
Melina Khan is a national trending reporter for USA TODAY. Keep up with her on X @melinakh and Instagram @bymelinakhan.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Christa Pike wasn't alone in her crime. What happened to accomplices
