Christa Pike Unconscious and on Ventilator After Failed Execution
Lawyers say the Tennessee death row inmate is fighting for her life after lethal injection drugs failed to kill her.
Tennessee death row inmate Christa Pike remained unconscious and on a ventilator Friday following a botched execution attempt at the Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville, her lawyers said.
Her attorneys stated in a court filing that hospital staff were working to save her life and flush pentobarbital from her body. Pike, 50, survived two doses of the lethal injection drug on Wednesday night before officials called off the procedure and transferred her to a local hospital.
Pike is believed to be the first person in the modern era of United States capital punishment to survive after the state administered lethal injection drugs.
The court filing alleged that the state execution team failed to properly insert intravenous lines into Pike. Her attorneys said the team repeatedly missed veins, causing the pentobarbital to flow into her tissue instead of her bloodstream. They said executioners used at least seven needles on her left arm, bending one at a 90-degree angle.
According to the lawyers, Pike suffered severe burns, swelling and blisters on both arms from the leaking chemical. They said prison officials did not correct the line failure and instead administered a backup dose of the drug. Witnesses reported that Pike was still breathing loudly more than an hour after the process started.
Pike was sentenced to death in 1996 for the 1995 murder of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer in Knoxville. Pike was 18 years old at the time of the crime and was the only woman on death row in Tennessee. She would have been the first woman executed in the state in more than 200 years.
Her defense team had warned courts for months that a blood disorder and small veins would make IV placement difficult and painful. The courts and Gov. Bill Lee rejected those legal challenges and clemency appeals prior to the execution.
Following the failed execution, Lee ordered a review of Tennessee lethal injection protocols and placed a hold on all scheduled executions in the state.
Pike's attorneys asked a state court on Friday to order the Tennessee Department of Correction to preserve all physical evidence and records related to the failed procedure.
