A MOTHER IS STILL WAITING FOR JUSTICE FOR HER DAUGHTER

More than three decades after 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer was killed, her mother May Martinez is once again facing the pain of a case that never truly left her behind.

For most people, January 12, 1995, is a date buried deep in the past.

For May Martinez, it is the day her life changed forever.

Her daughter, Colleen Slemmer, was only 19 years old when she was killed in Knoxville, Tennessee. More than 30 years later, May is still carrying the memories of the daughter she lost — and still searching for a sense of justice and closure.

Now, the case has returned to the headlines after the failed execution of Christa Pike, the woman convicted of Colleen’s murder.

COLLEEN WAS ONLY 19

Colleen was a young woman with a future ahead of her when her life was suddenly taken.

Pike, who was 18 at the time of the crime, was later convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to death. The case became one of Tennessee’s most notorious murder cases.

For May, however, Colleen has never simply been a name in a court file.

She was her daughter.

Over the years, May continued to appear in court and speak about her daughter, even as Pike’s appeals continued.

At one point, May fought for the return of Colleen’s remains so that she could finally give her daughter a proper burial.

THREE DECADES LATER, THE CASE RETURNED TO THE SPOTLIGHT

On September 30, 2026, Christa Pike’s scheduled execution in Tennessee did not go as planned.

Pike received two doses of pentobarbital, but the execution could not be completed. She was taken to a hospital and remained in critical condition.

Her attorneys later said she remained unconscious and on a ventilator, with an uncertain long-term prognosis.

May Martinez and her husband traveled for hours to Tennessee to witness the execution.

Instead of seeing the legal process reach its expected conclusion, they watched it fail.

May later described the experience in an interview with PEOPLE, saying she did not take her eyes off Pike during the procedure.

 A MOTHER WHO HAS NEVER FORGOTTEN

The failed execution brought back memories that May has spent decades living with.

For her, the story is not simply about a death sentence, an execution chamber or a legal controversy.

It is about Colleen.

In previous years, May spoke openly about wanting all of her daughter’s remains returned so that she could finally lay her to rest.

That long struggle illustrates how the pain of losing a child does not disappear simply because decades pass.

COLLEEN’S NAME REMAINS

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

People have changed. Court proceedings have come and gone. Appeals have continued. And now, an attempted execution has placed the case back in the national spotlight.

But behind all of those headlines remains a 19-year-old young woman who once had a family, hopes and a future.

Her name was Colleen Slemmer.

And for her mother, remembering her is still part of the search for justice.

Because time may move forward, but for a mother who lost her daughter, some wounds never truly become part of the past.

More than three decades later, May Martinez is still telling Colleen’s story — so that her daughter is remembered not simply as a victim, but as the young woman she was.