Colleen Slemmer’s Mother Speaks Out After Christa Pike Wakes Up Following Failed Execution
May Martinez, the mother of murder victim Colleen Slemmer, has spoken out after lawyers for Christa Gail Pike revealed that the convicted killer has regained consciousness and is now “speaking” following her failed execution.
Martinez traveled from Florida to Nashville last week to witness Pike’s scheduled execution at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution.
Pike had been sentenced to death for the 1995 murder of Martinez’s 19-year-old daughter, Colleen Slemmer, in Knoxville.
But the execution on September 30 did not unfold as expected.
Pike was given two doses of pentobarbital, the drug intended to end her life, yet she survived the procedure and was later transported to Vanderbilt University Medical Center.