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Why Christa Pike’s accomplice Tadaryl Shipp avoided the death penalty despite being convicted in the same murder
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As Christa Pike remains in hospital following two failed lethal injections, people have been wondering why her accomplice did not get the death penalty, too.
As previously reported, Pike had been due to face execution at 10AM on September 30, but just an hour beforehand was granted a temporary stay.
However, just hours later the Supreme Court overruled that ruling and an attempt was made to carry out her death sentence.
Pike, now 50, was strapped to a gurney in the death chamber as two doses of pentobarbital were administered via an IV line, both of which failed to end her life.
Currently, she remains in hospital in a critical condition following the botched execution attempt, with her future prognosis unclear.
Why did Christa Pike receive the death sentence?
Pike was sentenced to death for the 1995 murder of Colleen Slemmer, committed when she was just 18 years old.
She had become jealous after believing her Job Corps classmate Slemmer, 19, was interested in her then-boyfriend, Tadaryl Shipp.
The pair, along with another friend Shadolla Peterson, who acted as a lookout, lured Slemmer to a secluded location where she was brutally beaten, tortured, and killed.
Pike attacked Slemmer with a box cutter before beating her with a large piece of asphalt, before Shipp engraved a satanic symbol into her skin.
Pike kept a piece of Slemmer's skull which she showed off at school after the attack.
After admitting to the heinous crime, Pike was handed the death penalty, while Shipp was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole.
Peterson, who agreed to become a witness for the prosecution, received probation after pleading guilty to being an accessory after the fact.
Why did Tadaryl Shipp not get sentenced to death for the murder of Colleen Slemmer?
Although both Shipp and Pike were tried as adults, only Pike was eligible to be considered for the death penalty due to their ages at the time of the murder.
Pike was 18 when the killing took place, while Shipp was 17 years old, so did not meet the age requirement for a death sentence.
Shipp was instead convicted of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, and sentenced to life in prison with parole eligibility.
Though he has been eligible for parole within the 30 years he has served behind bars, his requests have been denied "due to the seriousness of the offense," a spokesperson said , per WATE.
Shipp is currently serving his life sentence at the Northwest Correctional Complex in Tiptonville, Lake County, Tennessee, according to inmate records.
Inmate records state that his next parole hearing is schedules for October 2031.
Will another attempt to execute Christa Pike be made if she survives?
Currently, Pike remains in critical condition in hospital, according to her lawyers.
Her lawyer Randy Spivey told reporters on Thursday, per the BBC: "We don't have a sense of her prognosis or much update on her health at the moment. But we do know that she is alive right now."
Spivey added: "Last night, the execution team attempted to establish an IV line for an hour. I counted at least seven needles used in her left arm alone, one of which appeared to be bent when it was pulled from her arm after an unsuccessful attempt."
Spivey claimed that witnesses were kept in the dark after the curtain to the execution chamber was closed, despite the fact "it was clear that Miss Pike was still breathing" minutes later.
"No-one knew what was going on behind that curtain," Spivey said. "I had no idea when and if medical professionals began to assist."
Spivey has called for the state's governor to commute Pike's sentence following the failed execution, a request that was previously denied.
Stephen Ferrell, another of Pike's lawyers, said they were also looking at other legal options, adding: "We want to think this through and we want to make sure that Christa recovers and has some input in what she wants."
Tennessee Governor Bill Lee has ordered an independent review and ordered for the remaining execution in Tennessee this year - previously scheduled for December 3 for convicted murderer Gary Sutton - to be paused.
Lee added: "There are a lot of questions. The people of our state deserve to have those questions answered, and that's what this investigation is for."
It is not known whether Pike will face another execution at this date or whether her sentence will be commuted.