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

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.

Dipti Vaidya/USA Today Network/Imagn Images/Reuters

Christa Pike’s attorneys call recovery ‘medically unprecedented’ ahead of hearing over botched execution

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.”

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.”

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.”

Tennessee’s outgoing prison chief had a history of execution missteps before Christa Pike, officials say

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.

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

一位有上进心、有爱心的 19 岁女孩收拾好她在佛罗里达州的行李，跋涉 500 多英里，来到田纳西州诺克斯维尔，实现她学习计算机的梦想。

1995年1月，科琳·斯莱默的生命在那里戛然而止。她被18岁的同学克丽斯塔·派克谋杀。

派克于 1996 年被判处死刑，尽管她的律师努力争取减刑，但她的行刑日期还是定在了上周。

Dipti Vaidya/今日美国网络/Imagn Images/路透社

在就死刑执行失败一案举行听证会前，克丽斯塔·派克的律师称她的康复情况“在医学上前所未有”。

但行刑失败后，派克仍然活着，还能说话。从那时起，斯莱默的母亲梅·马丁内斯就觉得女儿被排除在了历史叙事之外。

“罪犯们总是受到如此多的关注。为什么？”马丁内斯告诉CNN附属电视台WBIR。“她却被淹没在这一切中……她被遗忘了。”

据CNN附属电视台WVLT报道，斯莱默的大部分人生都在她的家乡佛罗里达州奥兰治帕克度过，她与母亲、继父和妹妹一起生活。她的母亲形容斯莱默善良、富有爱心且充满热情。马丁内斯在2025年接受WVLT采访时表示，斯莱默从小就富有同情心，尤其喜爱孩子，这或许源于她的成长经历。

“科琳喜欢做各种事情。她做过保姆。她喜欢和孩子们在一起做任何事，我想这大概是我的遗传，因为我开了40年的托儿所，”马丁内斯说。

据美联社报道，她对社区的关爱也体现在她参与特殊奥林匹克运动会的志愿服务中。马丁内斯告诉WBIR电视台，她还利用午休时间陪伴残疾儿童和自闭症儿童，给他们喂食、陪他们玩耍。

据WBIR报道，斯莱默的母亲说，斯莱默性格友善随和，热爱轮滑。斯莱默的笑声以及她和继父的回忆多年来一直留在马丁内斯的记忆中，每当她想起女儿本可以拥有的人生时，这些回忆便会浮现在她的脑海中。

老师们回忆说她性格温和甜美，但家人和朋友也强调了她的独立性，她的母亲告诉WVLT电视台。她努力将自己对计算机和科技的热爱转化为事业。

“她本来就是个电脑迷。她和我丈夫经常一起组装和拆卸电脑，”马丁内斯告诉美联社。“她信任所有人，而这正是她的致命弱点。”

据田纳西州最高法院的一份意见书显示，斯莱默搬到田纳西州参加联邦职业培训项目“青年就业计划”（Job Corps）三个月后，派克将她诱骗到远离校园的偏僻地方，在那里她和男友对她进行折磨并将其杀害。该男友也因这起谋杀案被定罪。

斯莱默和她母亲在她遇害当晚进行了最后一次通话，但由于信号不好，通话很短。斯莱默告诉美联社，当马丁内斯试图回拨电话时，斯莱默没有接听。

菲尔·基思是派克被判刑时诺克斯维尔的警察局长，他告诉 WVLT 电视台，他一直无法忘记这起犯罪的细节。

“我看到了很多，这些都深深地印在我的脑海里，我的记忆里，”他说。“我永远不会忘记。”

官员们表示，田纳西州即将卸任的监狱长在克里斯塔·派克之前就有过执行死刑失误的记录。

田纳西州居民米歇尔·诺维尔表示，该州已经为派克“付出了足够的代价”。

“我们已经为克丽斯塔·派克付出了代价，现在又要支付律师费，现在又要支付医院账单，现在他们又在谈论诉讼，”诺维尔告诉CNN。“最糟糕的是，科琳已经被遗忘了。”

马丁内斯和她的丈夫从佛罗里达州赶到纳什维尔，观看派克的死刑执行。她站在旁听席上，手里拿着科琳的照片。

但行刑室的帘幕落下，证人被要求离开后，马丁内斯被告知派克已被送往医院。行刑出了差错。她后来得知派克还活着。

马丁内斯告诉CNN附属电视台WTLV，她觉得州政府辜负了她的家人。“我认为州政府欠我一个诚挚的道歉，”她指的是那次失败的死刑执行。

马丁内斯一心只想为女儿讨回公道。

“没有一天，甚至没有一分钟，我不想念科琳。节假日最难熬，”马丁内斯告诉美联社。

斯莱默的家人上个月刚为她庆祝了生日。她本该51岁了。

CNN的瑞安·杨和梅丽莎·格雷对本报道亦有贡献。