Who Is Tadaryl Shipp? Christa Pike's Co-Defendant, His Sentence and Parole Status
- 🔑 Tadaryl Shipp, also spelled TaDaryl, is a Tennessee state prisoner convicted in 1997 of first-degree murder and conspiracy in the January 12, 1995 killing of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer in Knoxville. He was Christa Pike’s boyfriend and co-defendant, and he was 17 when the crime happened.
- Shipp is serving life with the possibility of parole, plus a 25-year sentence for conspiracy, reported as consecutive. The state appeals court affirmed his convictions on September 11, 1998, but sent the consecutive-sentencing question back to the trial court. We have not seen the remand ruling and do not calculate a release date.
- The Tennessee Board of Parole denied Shipp parole on October 20, 2025, after an October 8 hearing, with a board spokesperson citing the seriousness of the offense. The board set his next review for October 2031. That is a scheduled date only, and this article does not forecast any outcome.
- Local Knoxville news coverage reports that jurors could not consider the death penalty for Shipp because he was 17 at the time of the killing. Pike was 18 and was sentenced to death. That age-based explanation is the only reason this article gives for the difference in their sentences.
- Reports citing Tennessee Department of Correction records place Shipp at the Northwest Correctional Complex in Tiptonville, and he has been in custody continuously since January 1995. We could not query the department’s live offender database directly, so that placement is as reported through early October 2026.
- As of October 2, 2026, Pike’s attorneys said she was alive and in critical condition after the failed September 30 execution attempt, and Gov. Bill Lee had ordered a third-party review and paused the remaining 2026 executions. That story is still developing and is covered in our separate Pike article.
Tadaryl Shipp is the Tennessee prisoner convicted alongside Christa Pike in the January 12, 1995 killing of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer in Knoxville, and as of October 2, 2026 he remains in prison. The state parole board denied him parole on October 20, 2025. He was Pike’s boyfriend and was 17 at the time, which local Knoxville coverage says took the death penalty off the table for his jury. His name is trending because of Pike’s failed execution on September 30, 2026, but his own record has not changed since the board’s October 2025 decision.
Who is Tadaryl Shipp?
Tadaryl Shipp is a Tennessee state inmate who, as a 17-year-old Job Corps student in Knoxville, was Christa Pike’s boyfriend and co-defendant in the 1995 killing of Colleen Slemmer, 19. Pike was 18. Coverage spells his first name both Tadaryl and TaDaryl. Local Knoxville news coverage reports he has been in custody, in jail or prison, continuously since January 1995. The case is often called the Job Corps murder, and we keep this account to what the court and parole records establish.
What was Tadaryl Shipp convicted of?
A Knox County jury convicted Shipp in 1997 of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit first-degree murder. On September 11, 1998, the Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed both convictions in State v. Shipp (No. 03C01-9711-CR-00492), noting that he was 17 when the crimes occurred. A third Job Corps student pleaded guilty to being an accessory after the fact and received a six-year probationary sentence, according to the appeals court opinion.
What is Tadaryl Shipp’s sentence?
Shipp is serving life with the possibility of parole, plus a 25-year sentence for conspiracy, reported as consecutive. That structure appears in 2025 and 2026 news reports, some of which cite Tennessee Department of Correction records. One wrinkle: the 1998 appeals decision vacated the trial court’s consecutive-sentencing finding and sent it back for proper findings. We have not seen the ruling that followed, so we describe the current structure as reported. We have not calculated a release date, and this article does not offer one.
Why was Shipp not sentenced to death?
Because Shipp was 17 at the time of the killing, the death penalty was not an option for his jury, according to Knoxville local news coverage by WBIR. Pike was 18 and was sentenced to death. Their ages are the only reason for the difference in sentences that we state here.
Is Tadaryl Shipp still in prison, and where?
Yes. As of the most recent reporting we could verify, Shipp is held at the Northwest Correctional Complex in Tiptonville, in West Tennessee. News reports cite Tennessee Department of Correction records for that placement, and his 2025 parole hearing took place at that facility. We could not query the department’s live offender database for this article, so treat the location as accurate through early October 2026 and check the state’s records for anything newer.
Was Tadaryl Shipp granted parole?
No. The Tennessee Board of Parole denied Shipp parole on Monday, October 20, 2025. A board spokesperson said the decision came “due to the seriousness of the offense.” At an October 8, 2025 hearing at the Northwest Correctional Complex, board member Tim Gobble voted to deny parole and recommended a new review in October 2030. Four concurring votes were needed for a final decision, and the board’s final decision moved the review date to October 2031. It also recommended that Shipp complete programming tied to his risk assessment, known as Strong R, and maintain positive behavior in prison. October 2031 is only the next scheduled review. We do not forecast how it will turn out.
What are the key dates in Shipp’s case?
Shipp’s case runs from the January 1995 killing to a parole review scheduled for October 2031.
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| Jan. 12, 1995 | Slemmer killed in Knoxville |
| 1997 | Knox County jury convicts Shipp |
| Sept. 11, 1998 | Appeals court affirms convictions |
| Oct. 8, 2025 | Parole hearing, Tiptonville |
| Oct. 20, 2025 | Board denies parole |
| Oct. 2031 | Next scheduled review |
How does Shipp’s case connect to Christa Pike’s failed execution?
Shipp and Pike were convicted of the same killing, so renewed attention on Pike’s September 30, 2026 execution attempt has sent readers looking for what became of him. As of October 2, 2026, Pike’s attorneys said she was alive and in critical condition, and Gov. Bill Lee had ordered a third-party review and paused the remaining 2026 executions. That story is still developing, and we cover it in our report on Pike’s failed execution and hospitalization .
Where does Shipp’s case stand now?
Shipp’s convictions were affirmed in 1998, parole was denied in October 2025, and the next scheduled review is October 2031. As of October 2, 2026, we found nothing newer from the board, the Department of Correction or a court. The part of this story that is still moving is Pike’s, and we are tracking it in the Pike report linked above.
How we verified this
Parole record: We read the local broadcast reports of the October 8, 2025 hearing (which cite a Board of Parole communications officer) and of the October 20, 2025 final decision, plus a second broadcaster’s report from the decision day that carries the board spokesperson’s wording, and a September 29, 2026 Knoxville news explainer. Three news organizations that do not share a parent company agree on the October 20, 2025 denial and the October 2031 review date. Two further outlets repeated the same record and added nothing independent.
Court record: We read the Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals opinion in State v. Shipp (September 11, 1998) as reproduced by a third-party legal-text site, because the court’s own copy could not be retrieved. It affirms both convictions, states that he was 17 at the time of the crimes, and vacates the consecutive-sentencing finding with a remand for proper findings.
Conflicts and how we resolved them: The first board member to vote recommended a review in October 2030. The board’s final decision changed that to October 2031, and we used 2031 even though some secondary coverage still prints 2030. On sentence structure, the 1998 opinion remanded the consecutive question and we could not retrieve the ruling that followed, so we say only that the 25-year term is reported as consecutive, based on 2025 and 2026 reports that cite state records. On the death penalty, we state only the age-17 explanation attributed to local Knoxville coverage; other accounts offer different legal or jury-based explanations that we could not verify, and we did not use them.
Not checked directly: The Tennessee Department of Correction offender database and the Board of Parole’s own records could not be queried, so his location and sentence structure rest on reports that cite them. We found no new statement from the board, the department or a court about Shipp after the October 2025 decision; recent coverage restates that record.
Left out on purpose: Years-old interview remarks attributed to Shipp and uncorroborated claims about motive from secondary outlets were not used, and no graphic detail is described.
Still moving at write time: Pike’s condition, any clemency decision and the governor’s review were unresolved as of the afternoon of October 2, 2026 (US Eastern). The one paragraph about them is pinned to that date and draws on attorney statements and the governor’s announced actions as reported by several broadcasters and wire reports.
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