“IT IS LIKE COLLEEN NEVER EXISTED” — MOTHER OF CHRISTA PIKE’S VICTIM SPEAKS OUT AHEAD OF EXECUTION

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — With just days remaining before Tennessee is scheduled to execute Christa Pike, the mother of the woman Pike was convicted of killing is speaking out about a pain she says has been overshadowed for decades.

May Martinez, the mother of Colleen Slemmer, is preparing to make an hours-long drive from Florida to Tennessee so she can witness the scheduled lethal injection on September 30, 2026.

For Martinez, the journey is not about celebrating an execution.

It is about making sure her daughter is remembered.

“It is never about the victims,” Martinez said. “It is like Colleen never existed.”

“I WANT TO BE THERE FOR COLLEEN”

Slemmer was 19 years old when she was killed in January 1995 while attending the Knoxville Job Corps program.

Pike, who was 18 at the time, was convicted in Slemmer’s killing. Prosecutors said Pike believed Slemmer was a romantic rival and lured her to an isolated area with the help of her boyfriend, Tadaryl Shipp.

Now, 31 years later, Martinez says she wants to be present if Tennessee carries out Pike’s sentence.

The trip from Florida to Nashville will take more than eight hours by car.

Martinez has said she would even put off paying her mortgage for a month if that were what it took to make the journey and be there for her daughter.

“I’ve been waiting 31 years,” Martinez said. “I want to be there for Colleen.”

A DAUGHTER MARTINEZ SAYS THE WORLD NEVER GOT TO KNOW

As the execution date approaches, Martinez has repeatedly tried to shift attention back to the teenager whose life ended in 1995.

She remembers Colleen as an easygoing young woman who loved roller skating and volunteered with the Special Olympics.

Colleen also enjoyed working with computers, sharing that interest with her father.

“She was a computer geek to begin with,” Martinez recalled, describing how Colleen and her father would build and take apart computers together.

“She trusted everybody,” Martinez said. “And that was her downfall.”

For Martinez, the most painful part of the case is knowing that her daughter never had the opportunity to grow older.

“She never got a chance to grow up,” Martinez said.

PIKE’S FINAL LEGAL FIGHTS

Pike, now 50, has remained on Tennessee’s death row for more than three decades.

Her attorneys have challenged the state’s lethal-injection protocol, arguing that her medical and psychological conditions could expose her to unconstitutional suffering. A court hearing examined those claims in August, including arguments concerning Pike’s essential thrombocytosis and her history of severe trauma.

Pike’s lawyers have also sought clemency, pointing to the abuse and neglect she experienced during childhood and arguing that she was only 18 when she committed the crime.

Pike has not denied responsibility for Slemmer’s death.

On September 28, Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee denied Pike’s clemency request, saying he would uphold the state’s sentence. Her attorneys said they would continue pursuing the remaining legal avenues, including seeking relief from the U.S. Supreme Court.

A HISTORIC EXECUTION

If carried out as scheduled, Pike would become the first woman Tennessee has executed in more than 200 years.

She would also be the only person executed in Tennessee’s modern era for a crime committed at age 18, according to arguments presented by her attorneys.

That history has placed Pike at the center of national attention.

But for Martinez, the story remains much simpler.

It is about a 19-year-old daughter who never came home.

While Pike’s lawyers and supporters continue to challenge the death sentence, Martinez says her family has spent more than three decades living with the consequences of Colleen’s death.

And as the September 30 execution date approaches, she says she intends to make the long journey to Tennessee.

Not to forget what happened.

But to make sure Colleen Slemmer is not forgotten.