JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — For 31 years, May Martinez has waited for justice for her daughter.

Now, with the scheduled execution of Colleen Slemmer’s killer approaching, Martinez is preparing for what she hopes will be the final chapter of a case that has consumed much of her life.

Christa Pike is scheduled to be executed Sept. 30 in Tennessee for the 1995 murder of Slemmer, a 19-year-old from Orange Park. Legal challenges could change that date.

For Martinez, being there when Pike is put to death isn’t about celebrating an execution.

It’s about keeping a promise to her daughter.

“She killed my daughter and I don’t want to see another child or another person hurt like she did,” Martinez said.

Slemmer was attending the Job Corps in Knoxville when she was killed. Pike and her boyfriend at the time, Tadaryl Shipp, were convicted in connection with the murder.

Prosecutors said the pair tortured and beat Slemmer. Pike was accused of cutting a pentagram into Slemmer’s chest and striking her in the head with a piece of asphalt.

Investigators said jealousy was the motive, with Pike believing Slemmer was interested in her boyfriend. Pike was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to death. At the time, she became the youngest person on Tennessee’s death row.

More than three decades later, Martinez says the pain of losing her daughter remains.

“The most important thing is that Colleen gets justice,” she said.

A Final Trip to Tennessee

Over the years, Martinez and her husband, Raul, have made countless trips between Florida and Tennessee.

They want to make one more. But getting there is a financial challenge.

Raul is a disabled veteran, and the couple lives on a fixed income. They say they have not been offered financial ᴀssistance from Tennessee to cover the cost of attending the execution.

The trip would mean paying for gas, a H๏τel, meals and someone to care for their animals while they are away.

“We’re looking at a 10 to 11-hour drive each way,” Raul said. “Three days in H๏τel and meals.”

The couple says they are determined to go, even if it means making difficult financial choices.

“We said if we had to, we wouldn’t pay the mortgage to let the mortgage not go for the one month,” May said.

For Martinez, the trip is about more than witnessing an execution. It is about finally closing a chapter that began with the death of her daughter in 1995.

“I just want to see it happen,” Raul said. “That’ll be the final chapter of this case closed.”

“31 years is long enough to wait,” May responded. “To see your daughter come back in pieces.”