‘IT’S LIKE COLLEEN NEVER EXISTED’: MOTHER OF CHRISTA PIKE’S VICTIM PREPARES TO WITNESS EXECUTION

With just days remaining before Tennessee is scheduled to execute Christa Pike, the mother of the woman Pike was convicted of murdering is speaking out — saying the years of coverage surrounding the death penalty case have too often focused on the person who killed her daughter rather than the daughter herself.

May Martinez, the mother of Colleen Slemmer, plans to travel more than eight hours from Florida to Nashville to witness Pike’s scheduled execution on September 30, 2026.

For Martinez, the journey is not about celebrating a death.

It is about being there for Colleen.

“It is never about the victims,” Martinez said in an interview reported by USA TODAY. “It is like Colleen was never there.”

Pike, now 50, is scheduled to be executed for Slemmer’s 1995 murder. If the execution proceeds, Pike would become the first woman executed by Tennessee in more than 200 years. She is currently the only woman on Tennessee’s death row.

A MOTHER WHO HAS WAITED 31 YEARS

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

According to reporting from the Nashville Banner, Slemmer had grown up in Florida and was remembered by her mother as a compassionate young woman who volunteered with handicapped children at school and participated in Special Olympics events.

She loved computers, enjoyed roller skating and had a playful relationship with her family.

Martinez still remembers those details decades later.

“She did a lot of stuff for the school system,” Martinez recalled, describing how her daughter would help children at school and even volunteered at Special Olympics events.

Slemmer had gone to Knoxville after encouragement from her grandfather.

On the night she died, she briefly spoke with her mother by telephone.

The call was interrupted by a poor signal.

Martinez tried calling back.

By then, her daughter was already gone.

THE MURDER THAT LED TO A DEATH SENTENCE

Pike was 18 when Slemmer was killed.

According to evidence presented in the case, Pike and her then-boyfriend, Tadaryl Shipp, along with another young woman, lured Slemmer to a secluded area.

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

Shipp, who was 17 at the time, received a life sentence because he was below the age required for a death sentence in Tennessee. Shadolla Peterson, who cooperated with prosecutors, avoided prison time.

The case has remained in the public spotlight for decades, appearing in documentaries, television programs, podcasts and books.

But Martinez says the attention has created another kind of pain.

Her daughter, she believes, has increasingly become a footnote in a story dominated by Pike’s life, legal challenges and upcoming execution.

‘COLLEEN CAN ALWAYS BE REMEMBERED’

Martinez has continued to describe Colleen not by the circumstances of her death, but by the young woman she remembers.

She said her daughter struggled with reading but was intelligent and fascinated by computers. One of her favorite shirts reportedly carried the words “computer geek.”

The family eventually turned that shirt into a teddy bear so they could keep something tangible that belonged to her.

Those memories have become especially important as the execution approaches.

Had she lived, Slemmer would have turned 50 on September 20, 2026.

Instead, her mother is preparing to travel to Nashville more than three decades after losing her.

A Jacksonville-area victims advocacy organization is helping raise money to cover Martinez’s travel expenses for the execution, according to recent reporting.

Martinez has said she is determined to be there even if the trip creates a significant financial burden.

She has described the journey as part of a promise to her daughter.

‘I JUST WANT SOME PEACE’

The scheduled execution comes after years of legal proceedings and appeals.

Pike’s current attorneys are not arguing that she was innocent of Slemmer’s murder. Instead, they are asking Tennessee officials to commute her death sentence to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.

A 226-page clemency petition submitted to Gov. Bill Lee argues that Pike’s childhood abuse, trauma and other mitigating circumstances should be taken into account when determining her punishment.

Her lawyers and supporting experts have also raised concerns about the psychological effect the execution process could have on Pike because of her history of sexual violence and trauma.

Pike has expressed remorse in her clemency petition, writing that the killing of Slemmer was a devastating act that affected numerous lives.

But Martinez has said she does not accept Pike’s expressions of remorse.

For the victim’s mother, the central issue remains what happened to Colleen.

THE LAST THING MARTINEZ WANTS PEOPLE TO REMEMBER

Martinez has spoken about living for decades with memories of her daughter’s death.

She has also described moving away from places associated with Colleen because the memories became too painful.

“I couldn’t take the area anymore,” Martinez said, recalling how schools, skating rinks, movie theaters and other familiar locations reminded her of her daughter.

She hopes the execution, if it proceeds, will finally allow her to sleep without the same fear and recurring memories.

“What does she hope for when it’s over?” the Nashville Banner asked.

Martinez’s answer was not about revenge.

It was about peace — and remembrance.

She said she wants to stop waking up from dreams about Colleen and no longer live with the constant fear surrounding the case.

And above all, she wants her daughter remembered for who she was.

“For Colleen,” Martinez said, “the sweet little girl that she was.”

SEPTEMBER 30

Christa Pike is currently scheduled to be executed on September 30, 2026, in Tennessee.

The date could still change if courts or state officials intervene. Pike’s clemency petition remains part of the ongoing legal effort seeking to replace her death sentence with life imprisonment without parole.

For Martinez, however, the approaching date represents something much more personal than a legal milestone.

It is the moment when she intends to stand in the execution witness room carrying the memory of a daughter whose life ended at 19.

And after 31 years of seeing her daughter’s name repeatedly connected to the woman convicted of killing her, Martinez wants the final memory to belong to Colleen.

Not the prison.

Not the appeals.

Not the headlines.

Colleen Slemmer.

The daughter her mother says the world must not forget.