May Martinez, mother of Colleen Slemmer, has spoken out as Christa Pike's execution date approaches, 31 years after her daughter's murder. Pike, now 50, was convicted at 18 of the brutal 1995 killing of 19-year-old Slemmer, and is scheduled to be executed by lethal injection in Tennessee on 30 September, making her one of the youngest women in modern US history to receive a death sentence and the first woman executed in the state in more than 200 years.
Martinez told WBIR Channel 10 that she feels her daughter's memory has been overshadowed by the attention surrounding the case, saying: "It's never about the victims. It's like Colleen was never there." She described feeling unsupported by the justice system during the original trial, adding: "The victims need help from the justice system, but the state ... they don't see. Like when I sat in the court for three weeks in a row, they didn't see that I was by myself. They didn't see that I was in a hotel, you know, there, and nobody with me." She described herself as her daughter's voice, saying somebody has to speak for her, and reflected on the ongoing weight of the loss, saying: "She's not with me. Every day, every hour, every minute, she's gone."
Martinez plans to travel more than eight and a half hours from Jacksonville, Florida, to Nashville to witness the execution. Asked what she would say to Pike if given the chance, she said there was little point, explaining: "My husband, he'll say something. But I won't. I'll hold Colleen's picture up to remind her of what she did. Saying something to her and talking to her now, after all these years, that she never apologized - never even tried - or her family. What's the point?" She hopes people will remember Colleen as she was before the crime, describing her as playful and compassionate, someone who loved roller skating, computers, and playing games with her family, adding: "She was a nerd. But a good nerd."
Pike was convicted of murdering Slemmer after becoming convinced she was pursuing her then-boyfriend, Tadaryl Shipp, 17. Slemmer was lured to a remote area of the University of Tennessee's agricultural campus, where she was stabbed and beaten for around 30 minutes, with a pentagram carved into her chest. Reports state Pike later bragged to another student about the killing, including cutting Slemmer's throat multiple times with a box cutter. Shipp was convicted of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder, receiving a life sentence with the possibility of parole, while a third accomplice, Shadolla Peterson, who acted as a lookout, testified against Pike and Shipp and received probation.
