Christa Pike, 50, was scheduled to be executed in Tennessee on Wednesday but remained alive after two rounds of pentobarbital and was taken to a hospital.
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Christa Pike, 50, was strapped to a gurney in Tennessee shortly before 7:30 p.m. Wednesday and the state began preparations for her lethal injection at 7:27 p.m., with her spiritual adviser standing beside her near her head as she was taken through a series of pre-execution steps, including singing.
Pike, who was allowed to give a final statement, told witnesses at about 7:30 p.m. that she was leaving the world with love and said, “I’m ready to be free,” adding, “This is a happy day.” She was serving a death sentence for the 1995 torturing and killing of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer.
After the curtain was raised into the execution room, officials began administering drugs through an IV inserted in Pike’s arm. At about 7:37 p.m., around 10 minutes into the first phase, she sighed and made comments indicating she was still feeling sensations in her arm. At 7:41 p.m., a small object about the size of a golf ball was placed on a ledge in the chamber. Officials did not confirm what the placement meant, though its timing appeared to coincide with a protocol direction that begins a five-minute countdown after the drugs are administered until the curtain is closed.
At 7:46 p.m., officials closed the curtain, blocking witnesses’ view of the death chamber, and it later rose again three minutes afterward. The protocol calls for a second round of pentobarbital if an inmate is not deceased after the first round.
For the next hour-plus, Pike could be heard from behind the curtain making sounds like snoring while she continued breathing. Her head raised slightly off the gurney at about 7:56 p.m. and she continued to appear conscious and breathing. Officials closed the curtain again at 8:06 p.m., and for the following 40 minutes she could still be heard making the rhythmic breathing sound.
Inside the prison, Pike’s attorney, Randy Spivey, later told the media he demanded access to a telephone at about 8:22 p.m. to contact other lawyers, and said he requested the execution be halted and that life-saving medical care be given to Pike. Spivey said he received confirmation at about 8:50 p.m. that an ambulance was on the way.
At 8:53 p.m., the prison announced to witnesses: “Will witnesses please exit the area.” Fire trucks and ambulances arrived at around 9:14 p.m., and Pike’s attorneys later said she had been taken to a hospital for treatment, without specifying her condition. By Thursday afternoon, they said she was in critical condition receiving medical care.
The Tennessee Department of Correction said it followed its protocol and that “the lethal injection chemical in the protocol has consistently been effective,” adding that the protocol “does not allow for additional procedures beyond what was carried out this evening.” The department said Pike was transported to an off-site medical facility, but did not say what went wrong.
Governor Bill Lee ordered a review and postponed another execution scheduled for later this year, calling what happened in the death chamber “deeply disturbing.” Slemmer’s mother, May Martinez, said she traveled to Nashville to see the sentence carried out and told the media that she did not get justice, adding that Pike was awake and moving and that she remained alive and in the hospital after two attempts to administer the drugs.
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