Everything changed for two women when Colleen Slemmer died three decades ago.
Ms. Slemmer, 19, had been studying at a Knoxville, Tenn., education program when three classmates lured her into the woods, tortured her and killed her.
Her mother, May Martinez, had already been uneasy about her daughter traveling hundreds of miles away from Jacksonville, Fla. The loss of her daughter, she said in an interview last month, was devastating.
“I’m not the same person I used to be,” Ms. Martinez said.
Christa Pike was the only person involved in the murder who was sentenced to death. In response to questions from The New York Times, she conceded that initially, she did not feel remorse. But over years of isolation, as a result of being the lone woman on death row, she said she had grown to regret her actions and work to make amends.
“Over years of sitting in here with deep contemplation and reflection, I know and understand the life that I have taken and how much it matters, how much it means, how many effects she could have had on the world, just like the effects I could have on the world,” Ms. Pike said.
Ms. Martinez, who fund-raised the money to drive to witness the execution, said she could not fathom Ms. Pike changing. She and her husband, Raul, remained firmly in support of the execution going forward.
On Wednesday, Ms. Martinez was on the grounds of the prison waiting for the execution. She did not say anything.
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