Christa Pike’s boyfriend and accomplice Tadaryl Shipp's life behind bars after avoiding death penalty

Christa Pike’s boyfriend and accomplice Tadaryl Shipp's life behind bars after avoiding death penalty Pike's failed execution has sent shockwaves around the world, but she did not murder Colleen Slemmer alone - her then-boyfriend also attacked the teenager but avoided the death penalty Christa Pike’s failed execution has sent shockwaves around the world, as the convicted murderer remains unconscious. The 50-year-old survived two lethal injections last Wednesday, and remains in hospital. She was sentenced to death in 1996 for the murder of classmate Colleen Slemmer in January 1995. However, Pike did not act alone, and carried out the brutal fatal attack in Tennessee woodland with her then-boyfriend, Tadaryl Shipp. Shipp’s notoriety has faded in the decades since, as he has spent his life behind bars. Whereas Pike was sentenced to death for the killing, Shipp was sentenced to life in jail, reports People Magazine. That’s because Pike was 18 when the offence took place, while Shipp was 17 — so considered a minor. In his trial, jurors were told Shipp, Pike, and another accomplice Shadolla Peterson — who accepted a plea deal to testify against the others — lured Colleen Slemmer from their dorm rooms at the Knoxville Job Corps. They then took Slemmer to a nearby woodland, tortured her with a box cutter, and killed her, leaving her in the woods. The trio went back to their dorms. They were arrested 36 hours later. In their trials and in subsequent interviews, it has been suggested Satanic Worship played a role in the motive for the killing, as has a theory that Slemmer was a love rival for Shipp’s affections. Pike and Shipp were in a relationship at the time. After a trial, Shipp was sentenced to life imprisonment in 1997, more than two years on from 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 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".