FOR 31 YEARS, A MOTHER HAS FOUGHT TO KEEP HER DAUGHTER’S NAME FROM BEING FORGOTTEN

For more than three decades, May Martinez has carried a photograph of her daughter, Colleen Slemmer, and a promise to keep her memory alive.

Colleen was just 19 years old when her life was taken in Knoxville, Tennessee, in January 1995.

Now, as the case of Christa Pike has once again drawn national attention, May wants the world to remember that there was a young woman at the heart of the case long before Pike became a name associated with Tennessee’s death row.

Her name was Colleen Slemmer.

And to her family, she was far more than the victim in a notorious murder case.

WHO COLLEEN SLEMMER WAS

Colleen was born in Florida and traveled to Tennessee to attend the Job Corps program in Knoxville.

She had a passion for computers and was known for her ability to take computers apart and put them back together. One of her favorite shirts reportedly read “Computer Geek.”

She also loved roller skating and miniature golf and had a caring side that drew her toward helping others.

Her mother remembered Colleen volunteering with children with disabilities and participating in activities connected with the Special Olympics.

People who knew her described her as kind, playful, trusting, generous and intelligent.

She was still only 19.

She had not yet had the chance to build the adult life her family imagined for her.

THE NIGHT EVERYTHING CHANGED

On January 12, 1995, Colleen was taken to an isolated area near the University of Tennessee’s agricultural campus.

Christa Pike, who was 18 at the time, and Tadaryl Shipp were later convicted in connection with Colleen’s killing. Shadolla Peterson, who cooperated with authorities and testified, received probation.

Pike was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to death.

Shipp, who was a minor at the time of the crime, received a life sentence with the possibility of parole.

For May Martinez, however, the case was never simply about a conviction or a sentence.

It was about losing her daughter.

“SHE’S NOT WITH ME”

On September 20, 2026, Colleen would have turned 51.

Instead of celebrating her birthday with her daughter, May spent the day remembering the years that never happened.

“She’s not with me,” Martinez said in an interview before Pike’s scheduled execution, reflecting on the decades of birthdays, holidays and ordinary moments she had missed with Colleen.

More than 30 years have passed since Colleen’s death.

But time has not erased her place in her mother’s life.

May has continued to speak her daughter’s name, tell people who she was and insist that Colleen should be remembered as a person — not simply as the young woman whose murder became a major criminal case.

MAY TRAVELED TO TENNESSEE FOR THE EXECUTION

When Pike’s execution was scheduled for September 30, 2026, May and her husband, Raul Martinez Jr., traveled from Florida to Tennessee.

May carried a photograph of Colleen with her.

She told reporters that she wanted Pike to see the picture and remember the person whose life had been taken.

“I did not take my eyes off of her,” May later told PEOPLE, describing how she watched Pike through the viewing window.

But what happened that night was not what May had expected.

THE EXECUTION DID NOT GO AS PLANNED

Pike received two doses of pentobarbital during the attempted execution.

But she did not die.

Witnesses reported that Pike remained responsive after the first injection and later appeared to continue breathing after the second. She was eventually taken to a hospital and remained in critical condition, according to reports.

The Tennessee Department of Correction said its execution protocol had been followed.

Gov. Bill Lee subsequently halted the state’s remaining scheduled executions for 2026 and ordered an independent review of the process.

For May, the moment reopened emotions that she had carried for 31 years.

The mother who had traveled hundreds of miles hoping to witness the final chapter of her daughter’s case instead left Tennessee without the closure she had expected.

COLLEEN’S LIFE SHOULD NOT BE LOST IN THE HEADLINES

The renewed attention on Christa Pike has brought Colleen’s story back into the public eye.

But May has spent decades making sure that Colleen is remembered for more than the circumstances of her death.

She wants people to know about the young woman who loved computers.

The daughter who enjoyed skating and miniature golf.

The volunteer who cared about children with disabilities.

The teenager who left Florida believing that Job Corps could help her build a future.

And the 19-year-old whose family never got to see what that future might have become.

A favorite “Computer Geek” T-shirt was eventually turned into a teddy bear after Colleen’s death, giving her family something tangible to hold onto.

It is a small object carrying an enormous memory.

31 YEARS LATER, HER NAME REMAINS

The legal story surrounding Christa Pike may continue to change.

Pike survived the attempted execution, and Tennessee has ordered an independent review of what happened. Her future remains uncertain.

But one thing has remained constant throughout the decades:

Colleen Slemmer’s family still remembers her.

She would have been 51 years old.

She never got to reach that age.

She never got to experience the birthdays, holidays, friendships, work, family milestones and ordinary days that filled the years after 1995.

Her mother did.

And for more than 31 years, May Martinez has carried the memory of the daughter she lost.

This is not only the story of a woman on death row.

It is also the story of a 19-year-old girl who had dreams, a family who loved her and a future that was taken away.

Her name was Colleen Slemmer.

And her family wants the world to remember it.