Colleen Slemmer, murdered by Christa Pike, remembered as a ‘computer geek’ with a nurturing heart

(CNN) — A driven and caring 19-year-old packed her belongings in Florida and traveled over 500 miles to live out her dream of studying computing in Knoxville, Tennessee.

It was there, in January 1995, that Colleen Slemmer’s life was cut short. She was murdered by her 18-year-old classmate Christa Pike.

Pike was sentenced to death in 1996, and despite her attorneys’ efforts to commute her sentence, her execution date was set for last week.

But after a botched execution attempt, Pike remains alive and speaking. Since then, Slemmer’s mother, May Martinez, feels like her daughter is being left out of the narrative.

“The criminals get so much attention. Why?” Martinez told CNN affiliate WBIR. “She has been lost in this … she’s been forgotten.”

She loved helping children

Much of Slemmer’s life was spent in her hometown of Orange Park, Florida, where she lived with her mother, stepfather and little sister, according to CNN affiliate WVLT. Her mother described Slemmer as kind, nurturing and passionate. As a child, she had a compassionate nature, especially with children, sparked by her upbringing, Martinez told WVLT in 2025.

“Colleen loved doing things. She babysat. She loved to do anything with kids, and I think it was part of me because I had daycare for 40 years,” Martinez said.

That caring nature extended to her community as well, which was evident in her time volunteering with the Special Olympics, according to the Associated Press. She also spent time working with children with disabilities and autism, spending her lunch break feeding and playing with them, Martinez told WBIR.

Slemmer was friendly, easygoing and loved roller skating, her mother told WBIR. Slemmer’s laugh and memories with her stepfather have stayed with Martinez for years, and are brought up often when she thinks about the life her daughter could have lived.

Teachers remembered her as mild-mannered and sweet, but family and friends also highlighted her independence, her mother told WVLT. She strived to make a career out of her love for computers and technology.

“She was a computer geek to begin with. She and my husband would build and tear apart the computers constantly,” Martinez told AP. “She trusted everybody, and that was her downfall.”

A mother searches for justice

Three months after Slemmer moved to Tennessee to start at Job Corps, a federal career building program, Pike lured her to a secluded area away from campus where she and her boyfriend tortured and killed her, according to a Tennessee Supreme Court opinion. The boyfriend was also convicted in the killing.

Slemmer and her mother spoke for the last time on the night of her murder, but because of bad reception the call was brief. When Martinez tried to call her back, Slemmer didn’t pick up, she told AP.

Phil Keith, who was the Knoxville police chief when Pike was sentenced, told WVLT he hasn’t been able to forget the details of the crime.

“I saw quite a bit, and it’s imprinted in my brain, my memory,” he said. “I’ll never forget it.”

Michelle Nowell, a Tennessee resident, said the state has “paid enough for” Pike.

“We have paid for Christa Pike, and now we’re paying for attorneys, and now we’re paying for hospital bills, and now they’re talking about lawsuits,” Nowell told CNN. “And the worst part is that Colleen has been forgotten.”

Martinez and her husband traveled from Florida to watch Pike’s execution in Nashville. She held a photo of Colleen as she stood in the gallery.

But after the curtain closed in the execution room and witnesses were asked to leave, Martinez was informed Pike had been taken to the hospital. Something had gone wrong with the execution. She would later find out Pike was still alive.

Martinez told CNN affiliate WTLV she feels like the state failed her family. “I think the state owes me a big apology,” she said, regarding the botched execution.

Martinez is focused on one thing: Justice for her daughter.

“Not a day goes by, or a minute goes by that I do not think about Colleen. Holidays are the worst,” Martinez told AP.

Slemmer’s family marked her birthday just last month. She would have been 51.

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CNN’s Ryan Young and Melissa Gray contributed to this report.