A MOTHER IS STILL WAITING FOR JUSTICE FOR HER DAUGHTER — COLLEEN SLEMMER’S STORY LIVES ON

More than three decades after 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer was killed in Tennessee, her mother, May Martinez, is once again facing the pain of seeing her daughter’s case return to the headlines.

For May Martinez, January 12, 1995, is a date that can never simply become part of the past.

That was the night her 19-year-old daughter, Colleen Slemmer, was killed in Knoxville, Tennessee — a tragedy that would change her family forever.

More than 31 years later, Colleen’s name has once again become part of a national conversation after the state of Tennessee failed in its attempt to carry out the execution of Christa Pike, the woman sentenced to death for her role in Colleen’s killing.

For May, the event was supposed to represent the final chapter of a decades-long wait for justice.

Instead, it left her facing another painful uncertainty.

A DAUGHTER WHO HAD HER WHOLE LIFE AHEAD OF HER

Colleen had moved to Tennessee in 1994 to take part in a Job Corps program. Her mother has remembered her as a kind and easygoing young woman who cared about helping children and had an interest in computers.

She was only 19.

On January 12, 1995, Colleen was lured into a wooded area in Knoxville by Pike and others she knew through the Job Corps program.

According to court records, Colleen was subjected to a brutal assault before she was killed. Pike was later convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to death.

For May, however, the legal language could never capture what was lost.

Colleen was not simply a victim in a court case.

She was her daughter.

THREE DECADES OF WAITING

Pike remained on Tennessee’s death row for decades as her case moved through the appeals process.

When an execution date was finally set for September 30, 2026, May and her husband, Raul, traveled from Florida to Tennessee to witness what they believed would be the final stage of a painful journey.

They reportedly spent hours waiting at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution before the execution began.

May watched from the witness room as officials attempted to administer lethal doses of pentobarbital to Pike.

But something went terribly wrong.

Pike survived the procedure.

Witnesses reported that she continued breathing and moving after the first injection, and a second dose was administered. The execution was ultimately halted, and Pike was transported to a hospital for emergency medical treatment.

For May, the experience was devastating.

She had traveled hundreds of miles believing she would finally see justice carried out for her daughter.

Instead, she left without the closure she had expected.

“THIS ISN’T JUSTICE FOR COLLEEN”

After witnessing the failed execution, May spoke publicly about her anguish.

She said she watched Pike throughout the procedure and was deeply upset that the sentence could not be carried out.

In an interview with the Associated Press, Martinez said she did not feel that she had received justice for Colleen.

She later told PEOPLE that she and her husband had spent roughly 12 hours waiting before witnessing the failed procedure.

The moment she had imagined for more than three decades had turned into something completely different.

“I think that the state owes me a big apology,” Martinez said, according to ABC News.

PIKE’S CONDITION HAS CHANGED AGAIN

In the days following the failed execution, Pike’s condition was initially described as critical. Her lawyers said she had been unconscious and placed on a ventilator, with serious swelling and injuries to her arms.

But her condition later changed.

On October 6, Pike’s attorneys said she had regained consciousness and was speaking.

Her prognosis remained unclear, and she continued receiving critical medical care. Her lawyers renewed their request for Tennessee Governor Bill Lee to commute her death sentence to life imprisonment without parole.

Meanwhile, Tennessee has halted executions for the remainder of 2026 while officials conduct a review of what happened.

The state’s prison commissioner, Frank Strada, has also announced his resignation following the failed execution.

A Tennessee judge has since ordered state officials to preserve evidence connected to the execution attempt, including records and other materials that could help determine what went wrong.

BUT COLLEEN REMAINS AT THE CENTER OF THE STORY

Amid the legal arguments, medical developments and national debate over capital punishment, it can be easy to lose sight of the person at the heart of the original case.

Colleen Slemmer was 19 years old.

She had a mother who loved her.

She had interests, hopes and plans.

And she had a future that was taken away from her.

For May Martinez, those facts have never changed.

The passage of more than three decades has not erased Colleen’s memory. If anything, the failed execution has brought the old wounds back to the surface.

May traveled to Tennessee expecting to witness the conclusion of a case that had shaped her life since 1995.

Instead, she found herself leaving with more questions.

A MOTHER’S WAIT CONTINUES

The failed execution has also created a new chapter in a case that May believed had finally reached its end.

Tennessee officials are now investigating the procedure, while Pike remains hospitalized. The judge’s preservation order could become important as questions continue about how the execution was carried out.

What happens next remains uncertain.

But one thing is not.

Colleen Slemmer’s name has not disappeared.

More than three decades after her life was cut short, her mother is still speaking about her daughter, still remembering who she was and still asking for the justice she believes Colleen deserved.

Behind the headlines about a failed execution is the story of a 19-year-old woman whose life ended far too soon — and a mother who has carried that loss for more than 30 years.

For May Martinez, the story never really ended on January 12, 1995.

And it did not end on September 30, 2026, either.

Colleen was 19.
She had a future.
Her mother has never stopped remembering her.