Oct 13, 2026 · 8 min · 6 segments
Send us Fan Mail In 1995, 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer was lured into the Knoxville woods and brutally murdered. Her killer, 18-year-old Christa…
The victim was 19-year-old Colleen Slimmer.
She was a daughter.
She had a loving family.
She was so full of hope and full of life and was taking her first real steps into adulthood.
But then...
On January 12, 1995, Colleen was lured into an isolated wooded area near the Job Corps Center.
She went there believing she was meeting fellow students to clear the air about some dorm drama, and they were going to smoke a little pot.
Instead, she walked into a trap set by three strangers.
One was 18-year-old Krista Pike, the other one was 17-year-old Todd Darrell's ship, and then the other person was 18-year-old Shadella Peterson.
What followed was 30 to 45 minutes of extreme cruelty.
Colleen was beaten, tortured, and slashed.
A pentagon was carved into her chest, an act long attributed to Krista, though evidence shows it was actually a 17-year-old ship who carved it.
The attack ended when 18-year-old Krista Pike bashed Colleen's head with a heavy piece of asphalt, inflicting the fatal blow.
Krista then broke off a piece of Colleen's skull and kept it in her pocket.
She bragged about it to others.
Shadella Peterson acted as the lookout, later testified for the state, received immunity, and served no jail time.
That left Krista Pike and Tredaryl Shipp to face trial in 1996.
So the 1996 trial resulted in two very different outcomes.
Tredaryl Shipp, who was 17 at the time, if you'll remember, he was sentenced to life with the possibility of parole.
Krista Pike, who was 18, was sentenced to death, becoming the youngest woman on death row in modern U.S. history.
Why the disparity? She was legally a juvenile, but just by a few months, while Krista had just barely turned 18.
Furthermore, the prosecution framed Krista as the cold mastermind and ringleader.
However, key mitigation evidence was left out during her trial.
The victim was 19-year-old Colleen Slimmer.
She was a daughter.
She had a loving family.
She was so full of hope and full of life and was taking her first real steps into adulthood.
But then...
On January 12, 1995, Colleen was lured into an isolated wooded area near the Job Corps Center.
She went there believing she was meeting fellow students to clear the air about some dorm drama, and they were going to smoke a little pot.
Instead, she walked into a trap set by three strangers.
One was 18-year-old Krista Pike, the other one was 17-year-old Todd Darrell's ship, and then the other person was 18-year-old Shadella Peterson.
What followed was 30 to 45 minutes of extreme cruelty.
Colleen was beaten, tortured, and slashed.
A pentagon was carved into her chest, an act long attributed to Krista, though evidence shows it was actually a 17-year-old ship who carved it.
The attack ended when 18-year-old Krista Pike bashed Colleen's head with a heavy piece of asphalt, inflicting the fatal blow.
Krista then broke off a piece of Colleen's skull and kept it in her pocket.
She bragged about it to others.
Shadella Peterson acted as the lookout, later testified for the state, received immunity, and served no jail time.
That left Krista Pike and Tredaryl Shipp to face trial in 1996.
So the 1996 trial resulted in two very different outcomes.
Tredaryl Shipp, who was 17 at the time, if you'll remember, he was sentenced to life with the possibility of parole.
Krista Pike, who was 18, was sentenced to death, becoming the youngest woman on death row in modern U.S. history.
Why the disparity? She was legally a juvenile, but just by a few months, while Krista had just barely turned 18.
Furthermore, the prosecution framed Krista as the cold mastermind and ringleader.
However, key mitigation evidence was left out during her trial.
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