Christa Pike’s victim’s mother says Tennessee ‘owes me a big apology’ after failed execution

NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE: May Martinez said she left Nashville feeling that she still had not received justice for her daughter, Colleen Slemmer, after Tennessee’s attempt to execute convicted murderer Christa Pike failed.

Martinez had traveled to witness Pike’s execution on Wednesday, September 30, only to watch the 50-year-old remain alive after two doses of pentobarbital.

Her comments came as Tennessee Correction Commissioner Frank Strada announced he would resign this month while an independent review examines what went wrong during the execution.

May Martinez says she did not get justice for daughter Colleen Slemmer

“I didn't get justice for my daughter,” Martinez told the Associated Press after the failed execution.

Martinez, who traveled to Nashville with her husband after relying on community donations to afford the trip, said she watched the entire execution.

She recalled seeing Pike awake and moving after the first dose of the execution drug was administered.

“I watched the whole thing. She was awake,” Martinez said. “She was moving her head, moving her feet. She was trying to sit up. Didn't work the first time they gave her a shot. It didn't work the second time, so she's in the hospital and alive.”

Martinez also said the family was not properly informed about what was happening inside the execution chamber.

“They didn't say anything, and then, all of a sudden, they asked all the victims to leave. And we left,” she said. “We didn't know anything until we got up to the office and saw the commissioner. And he said that it didn't work… and she's on her way to the hospital.”

Pike was later taken to a Nashville-area hospital. Her lawyers said Sunday that she was unconscious and on a ventilator and asked Gov Bill Lee to commute her death sentence.

Attorney Stephen Ferrell said Pike’s prognosis was not yet known and could take several days to determine. He also urged Lee to commute her sentence to life in prison.

Tennessee Correction Commissioner Frank Strada resigns after failed execution

The failed execution has now led to changes within Tennessee’s corrections leadership.

Gov Lee announced Saturday that Correction Commissioner Strada, who oversees the state’s executions, will resign this month.

Strada said stepping down was “in the best interest of Tennesseans” as the state conducts an independent review of the execution.

Lee ordered “a comprehensive, third-party review to determine exactly what occurred” and described the incident as “deeply disturbing.” Another execution scheduled for later this year has also been paused.

For Martinez, the state’s response has not erased what she experienced in Nashville.

She said no one from the state apologized to her after the failed execution.

Speaking to ABC Jacksonville affiliate WJXX while traveling back to Florida, Martinez said, “I think that the state owes me a big apology.”

She also recalled asking officials whether Pike would return to prison.

“I don't know what we're doing with her yet,” Martinez said she was told.

“Here we are, 31 years, and you're laughing in my face again,” she responded bluntly.

Martinez later told PEOPLE that she does not think she would return if Tennessee attempts to execute Pike again. 

Raul Martinez describes what happened inside execution chamber

Slemmer’s stepfather, Raul Martinez Jr, also described what he saw as the execution unfolded.

After the first dose of pentobarbital was given, he said Pike remained alive and continued moving.

“She just lay there,” he told PEOPLE. “She moved her toes a lot.”

Raul said the curtain around the execution chamber closed about 15 minutes later. After several more minutes, witnesses were told Pike would receive another dose.

“They opened another bag, and she was still picking up her head and moving around,” he said.

The curtain closed again around 10 to 15 minutes after the second dose. Raul said that even with the curtain closed, he could “hear the sounds of her snoring or gurgling.”

After the failed execution, Raul wrote on social media that “Colleen's soul cannot rest until this monster succumbs to the two doses of pentobarbital that she was given,” according to News4Jax.