Remembering Colleen Slemmer Ahead of Christa Pike's Execution

As Christa Pike's scheduled execution approaches in Tennessee, attention has once again turned to the 19-year-old whose murder put Pike on death row more than three decades ago.

Colleen Slemmer was a young woman from Orange Park, Florida, who left home in 1994 to pursue career training at the Knoxville Job Corps. She was studying computing, and her family had hopes for a bright future when she was brutally killed. Christa Pike, who was 18 at the time, was convicted of Slemmer's murder and sentenced to death.

Who was Christa Pike's victim, Colleen Slemmer?

Born on September 20, 1975, Colleen Slemmer grew up in Florida in a family that remembers her as caring, independent, and eager to help others. Her mother, May Martinez, ran a daycare for decades, and she has said Colleen naturally developed a love for children.