May Martinez had traveled from Florida to Tennessee carrying the weight of a loss that began more than three decades ago. Her daughter, 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer, was murdered in Knoxville in 1995, and Christa Pike was later convicted and sentenced to death for the killing. Martinez was in Nashville on September 30 expecting to witness Pike’s execution, but the proceeding ended in a shocking turn when the convicted killer survived two doses of pentobarbital at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution. Pike was rushed to Vanderbilt University Medical Center, where she remained unconscious and depended on a ventilator for days. Then, on October 6, her attorneys announced that she had regained consciousness and was able to speak. The unexpected development left Martinez facing a situation she never imagined when she traveled to Tennessee.

Speaking with NBC affiliate WBIR, Martinez said she had already suspected that Pike might survive the failed execution. Asked whether she wanted Tennessee to attempt another lethal injection, Martinez gave a restrained response: “It doesn’t matter what I think.” She added, “They’re going to do what they’re going to do,” making clear that the decision was ultimately beyond her control. Pike’s lawyers say their client suffered severe damage to her arms during the failed execution and remains handcuffed and shackled to her hospital bed while receiving critical medical care. They described her recovery as medically unprecedented and said her long-term prognosis remains uncertain, with a lengthy recovery expected. Pike and her then-boyfriend, Tadaryl Shipp, were convicted in connection with Slemmer’s killing after Pike accused the teenager of attempting to steal her boyfriend. Pike received a death sentence in 1996 and became the youngest woman on death row in modern U.S. history. Now, after the execution failed and Pike has awakened, the question of what happens next remains unresolved.