Victim's Mother Says 'I Want to Go Kill Christa' After the Killer Survives Two Lethal Injections

May Martinez, the mother of murdered student Colleen Slemmer, expressed her desire to personally harm Christa Pike after Pike survived two attempts of lethal injection during her execution at a Tennessee prison on 30 September.This event occurred more than 30 years after Slemmer was killed.

May and her daughter's stepfather, Raul Martinez Jr, were among the witnesses present for Pike's execution, which was in connection with the murder of Slemmer. However, the execution was unsuccessful twice, with Pike surviving both doses and later being reported in critical condition in hospital.

Christa Pike Execution Leaves Family Waiting For Justice

To provide context, Pike was convicted of murdering 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer in 1995.
Pike had tricked Slemmer into the woods, where she was attacked and killed by Pike and two friends.Slemmer had been Pike's classmate in a Jobs Corp programme in Tennessee.

In the weeks and days leading up to the murder, Pike began to believe that Slemmer was considering taking her boyfriend. According to reports, May later described her daughter as an 'outcast' at the programme and mentioned that Slemmer had complained to her about being bullied.

Raul recalled that 15 minutes after the first lethal injection was administered, the curtains to the execution chamber suddenly closed. The witnesses then waited before being told that another dose would be given.

'We waited about three minutes and they opened a different bag and where was still picking up her head while moving around.'

The second dose also failed to kill Pike. The couple and the other witnesses were then instructed to leave the viewing room, according to the report.

For May, the experience came after 30 years of waiting for justice for her daughter. She told People that she had to fight the urge to administer her own justice on Pike.

Colleen's mother said she wanted to enter the execution room and use a box cutter to inflict on Christa the same harm her daughter suffered.

Colleen Slemmer's Mother Speaks After The Failed Execution

When May was asked about what was on her mind in the days following the failed execution, her answer was direct. 'I want to go kill Christa. How's that?'

The statement was made after the execution had failed. The source report does not say that May attempted to enter the execution chamber or physically harm Pike. Her remarks should therefore be understood as an expression of what she said she wanted to do, rather than evidence that she attempted an attack.

May's anger sits alongside memories of the daughter she lost. Recalling the last time she and Slemmer spoke before the murder, she said their final phone call was cut short because of a lack of phone signal.

'You miss a lot,' May said, thinking back on the 30 years that had passed since Slemmer's murder. 'You miss the holidays, you miss the birthdays, you miss Mother's Day and all that kind of thing.'

Pike survived the two lethal injection attempts, while Slemmer's mother left the prison without seeing the execution completed. For May, the failed execution meant that the outcome she had waited three decades to witness did not take place as expected.