BEFORE SHE BECAME A NAME IN THE HEADLINES, COLLEEN SLEMMER HAD DREAMS

SHE WAS ONLY 19 — AND HER LIFE WAS JUST BEGINNING

Long before her name became connected to one of Tennessee’s most closely followed death-penalty cases, Colleen Slemmer was simply a 19-year-old young woman with dreams, hobbies and a family who loved her deeply.

Her mother, May Martinez, has spent more than three decades making sure people remember that part of her daughter’s story.

Colleen loved computers and roller skating, and she had a special place in her heart for helping children. Her mother remembers her volunteering with children with disabilities at school and taking part in Special Olympics events.

She was not defined by the tragedy that ended her life.

She was defined by the person she had been before it.

THE GIRL WHO LOVED COMPUTERS

Colleen had a fascination with computers that became part of her personality.

She and her stepfather would build computers together, take them apart and put them back together.

One of her favorite T-shirts even carried the words “computer geek.”

Years later, that simple shirt became something much more precious.

Her family had the shirt turned into a teddy bear so they could keep a piece of Colleen close to them.

It became a small but deeply meaningful reminder of the young woman they lost.

SHE WANTED TO HELP OTHER PEOPLE

Colleen’s kindness was not limited to her family.

Her mother remembers her helping children at school, including assisting children with disabilities during lunchtime and making sure they could get around.

She also volunteered at Special Olympics events.

Those memories matter to May because they show a side of Colleen that can easily disappear beneath decades of headlines about the case.

To her mother, Colleen was not a case file.

She was her daughter.

A CALL HOME THAT BECAME A LAST MEMORY

After high school, Colleen went to the Knoxville Job Corps after being encouraged by her grandfather.

On the evening of January 12, 1995, she tried to call her mother in Florida.

The call was brief because of a poor signal.

May later recalled that she tried to call her daughter back — but by then, Colleen was already gone.

It was an ordinary attempt to reach home that became one of the final memories a mother would carry for the rest of her life.

MORE THAN THREE DECADES LATER, HER MOTHER STILL REMEMBERS

For May Martinez, more than 30 years have passed, but Colleen has never become a distant memory.

The places connected to her daughter — schools, skating rinks, movie theaters and familiar streets — remained painful reminders.

Yet May continues to speak about Colleen because she wants people to remember who her daughter really was.

A young woman who loved computers.

A girl who enjoyed roller skating.

A volunteer who cared about children.

A daughter who called her mother simply because she wanted to hear her voice.

COLLEEN’S FAMILY HAS CARRIED HER MEMORY FOR YEARS

The teddy bear made from her favorite shirt is only one example of how Colleen’s family has preserved her memory.

For them, objects connected to her are not simply possessions.

They are pieces of a life that should have continued.

Colleen should have had the chance to grow older, discover new interests, build a career and create memories of her own.

Instead, her family has spent decades telling people about the young woman she was.

HER MOTHER WANTS THE WORLD TO KNOW COLLEEN

The recent attention surrounding the case has once again placed Colleen’s name in the headlines.

But May Martinez has consistently tried to bring the conversation back to her daughter.

Not only to what happened to Colleen.

But to who Colleen was.

Because before there was a courtroom, a death-row case or decades of headlines, there was a 19-year-old girl with a “computer geek” shirt, a love of roller skating and a desire to help others.

And that is the Colleen her family wants the world to remember.

A LIFE THAT SHOULD NEVER BE REDUCED TO A HEADLINE

Colleen Slemmer was 19.

Her life was unfinished.

Her dreams were still taking shape.

And more than three decades later, her mother continues to carry those memories forward — hoping that when people hear Colleen’s name, they will think of the young woman behind it.

Not simply the victim in a notorious case.

But the daughter who loved computers.

The girl who loved to skate.

The young woman who cared about children.

The person whose family still misses her.

Before she became a name in the headlines, Colleen had dreams.

And for May Martinez, remembering those dreams is part of keeping her daughter’s memory alive.

SOURCES

• Associated Press (AP) — reporting on Colleen Slemmer, her family and the Christa Pike case.
• Nashville Banner — detailed reporting on Colleen’s life, family memories and her mother May Martinez.
• ABC News — May Martinez’s recent comments following the failed execution attempt involving Christa Pike.
• WSMV — latest comments from Colleen’s family following the failed execution attempt.