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2026-10-09 12:43:38Kosova&Bota SHKRUAR NGA REDAKSIA VOX

Colleen Slemmer left Florida for Tennessee to pursue her dream of studying technology, but her life was tragically cut short in January 1995.

The 19-year-old was tortured and murdered by her classmate, Christa Pike, who was sentenced to death in 1996. After the failure of her recently planned execution, the victim's mother says attention has focused on the perpetrator, while her daughter is being forgotten.

Colleen Slemmer was just 19 years old when she was killed in Knoxville, Tennessee, three months after moving from her hometown of Orange Park, Florida, to pursue computer science through the federal Job Corps program, which helps young people prepare for the job market.

In January 1995, her 18-year-old friend, Christa Pike, lured her to a secluded area off campus, where she and her boyfriend tortured and murdered her. Pike's boyfriend was also convicted of involvement in the crime.

Pike was sentenced to death in 1996. Despite efforts by her lawyers to have the sentence commuted, her execution was scheduled for last week. But the execution attempt failed and Pike survived, bringing attention back to the case and the aftermath it has left on the victim's family.

Colleen's mother, May Martinez, who traveled from Florida to Nashville to attend the execution, says her daughter has been overshadowed by the attention the perpetrator is receiving.

"Criminals get so much attention. Why? She's been lost in all this history... forgotten," Martinez told CNN affiliate WBIR.

Who was Colleen Slemmer?

Family and friends remember Colleen as a loving, caring, and tech-savvy girl who grew up in Orange Park, Florida, with her mother, stepfather, and younger sister.

Since childhood, she had shown a special inclination to care for others, especially children. According to her mother, Colleen loved taking care of children and spending time with them, a passion that was also connected to the fact that Martinez had run a daycare center for 40 years.

"Colleen loved activities. She took care of the kids and loved doing anything that had to do with them," her mother told WVLT.

Her dedication extended to the community as well. Colleen had volunteered at Special Olympics events and helped children with disabilities and autism. According to Martinez, during her lunch break, she would spend time with them, feeding them and playing with them.

Teachers described her as a calm and sweet girl, while family members appreciated her independence and desire to build a career in the computer field.

"She was passionate about computers. She and my husband were constantly building and dismantling them," Martinez recalled to the Associated Press.

Her mother also said that Colleen trusted people, a quality that, according to her, ultimately became her greatest weakness.

Last phone call with mother

The night she was killed, Colleen had last spoken to her mother. The call was short due to poor signal. When Martinez tried to call her again, the girl didn't answer.

Former Knoxville Police Chief Phil Keith, who was in office when Pike was convicted, said the details of the crime remain etched in his memory.

"I saw a lot of things and they are etched in my brain and memory. I will never forget them," he told WVLT.

Execution failed, mother seeks justice

May Martinez and her husband traveled from Florida to Nashville to watch Pike's execution. In the hall where the witnesses were gathered, she held a photo of her daughter.

But after the execution chamber curtains were closed and witnesses were asked to leave, Martinez was informed that Pike had been taken to the hospital. Something had gone wrong during the procedure, and the mother later learned that the condemned woman had survived.

Martinez told WTLV television that she feels like the state has let her family down.

"I believe the state owes me a huge apology," she said regarding the failed execution.

Other Tennesseans have also expressed dissatisfaction with the costs associated with the case and the continued attention paid to Pike, stressing that the victim should not be forgotten.

For Martinez, the pain hasn't faded over the years. She says there isn't a day or a minute that goes by that she doesn't think about her daughter.

"The holidays are the hardest," she told the Associated Press.

Colleen's family celebrated her birthday last month. If she were alive, she would have turned 51.

Beyond the developments surrounding Christa Pike's sentencing, Colleen's mother wants her daughter to be remembered for who she was: a young woman with dreams, a lover of children and a passion for technology, whose life was tragically cut short.


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