KNOXVILLE, Tenn. Nearly 31 years after Colleen Slemmer was killed in one of Tennessee’s most notorious murder cases, her mother, May Martinez, is still waiting for the final chapter. The Tennessee Supreme Court has set Sept. 30, 2026, as the execution date for Christa Pike, the only woman on Tennessee’s death row, in connection with the 1995 torture slaying of Slemmer, a fellow Knoxville Job Corps student.
Pike was 18 at the time, and prosecutors said she and Tadaryl Shipp attacked Slemmer on the University of Tennessee’s Agricultural campus. Shipp was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole.
According to prosecutors, the killing was unusually brutal. Slemmer was stabbed and beaten, a pentagram was carved into her chest, and investigators said Pike took a piece of the victim’s skull as a souvenir. Pike was later convicted in 2004 of trying to strangle another inmate during a prison fight, adding 25 years to her sentence. The 2025 execution order came as Tennessee resumed executions after a three-year pause tied to problems with testing lethal injection drugs.
For May Martinez, Slemmer’s mother, the case has never ended. In 2008, Martinez made a surprise appearance in court and asked to see her daughter’s skull, which had been kept as evidence. “It really hurts,” she said afterward. “The only thing I really wanted was to get my daughter’s body back.” In later years, she continued pressing for the return of her daughter’s remains so she could give her a proper burial.
Martinez has described the pain of living with the case for decades. In October 2025, she said the image of her daughter’s skull being kept as evidence was something no parent should have to endure. “Something you don’t want to face, your daughter’s skull in front of you every day and have it passed around like it was a piece of meat,” Martinez said. She added that holidays, birthdays and ordinary days all remain difficult, and that she wants Pike executed so no other parent has to suffer the same kind of loss.
Pike, meanwhile, has continued to fight her sentence. Her lawyers have argued that she was very young at the time of the crime and suffered abuse, neglect and untreated mental illness. In January 2026, Pike filed a lawsuit challenging Tennessee’s revised lethal injection protocol, arguing that the method violates her constitutional rights and religious beliefs. In June, her attorneys filed a new motion in the Tennessee Supreme Court asking for a special master to examine whether the state’s execution procedures would be constitutional in her case.
On July 28, 2026, the Tennessee Supreme Court agreed to appoint a special master to examine concerns about the state’s lethal injection process, including claims that Pike’s transfer to Riverbend Maximum Security Institution and the all-male staff involved in the process could be traumatic because of her history of sexual abuse. The court also said it would review medical issues that Pike’s lawyers say could complicate a lethal injection. A hearing on the matter was set for Aug. 11.
For Martinez, the legal maneuvers have only prolonged the agony. “Justice has to be served. It cannot go on like this,” she said in October 2025. “I’m just hoping Tennessee does what they’re supposed to do.”
If carried out, Pike’s execution would be the first of a woman in Tennessee in more than 200 years.
Sources:
- “Tennessee court sets execution date for the state’s only woman on death row and 3 male inmates,” Associated Press, Oct. 1, 2025 (apnews.com)
- “‘It’s hard to deal with’ | ‘Job Corps Murder’ victim’s mother continues to fight for justice in brutal Knoxville case,” WVLT, Oct. 8–9, 2025 (wvlt.tv)
- “Psychologist testifies at murderer’s appeal hearing,” Knoxville News Sentinel archive, Apr. 10, 2008 (archive.knoxnews.com)
- “Tennessee’s only woman on death row files lawsuit alleging execution method violates rights, religious beliefs,” WVLT/Action News 5, Jan. 13, 2026 (actionnews5.com)
- “Christa Pike’s attorneys file motion challenging constitutionality of lethal injection,” WSMV/WVLT, Jun. 12, 2026 (wsmv.com)
- “Tennessee Supreme Court appoints special master to investigate gender concerns in lethal injection process,” WPLN News, Jul. 28, 2026 (wpln.org)
Read the complete August 2026 edition of the Victims’ Advocate (PDF)