Tennessee death row inmate Christa Pike survived an attempted lethal injection after two doses of pentobarbital failed, prompting lawyers to seek emergency medical care…reports Asian Lite News Desk
A Tennessee death row inmate has survived an attempted execution after two injections of the lethal drug pentobarbital failed to kill her, prompting her lawyers to seek emergency medical intervention.
Christa Pike, 50, was scheduled to be executed at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville on Wednesday night. Her legal team said she remained alive after two doses were administered and was subsequently taken to hospital.
The attempted execution began at about 8pm local time, according to reports. The curtain separating the execution chamber from witnesses was reportedly closed twice during the procedure.
As the execution was taking place, Pike’s lawyers filed an emergency motion asking a federal court to halt the process and ensure she received medical treatment.
“Ms Pike has lost consciousness and still has a heartbeat and is audibly snoring,” the lawyers said in their emergency filing.
One of Pike’s attorneys told the BBC that she was subsequently “being provided life-saving measures” in hospital.
The lawyers later argued that the execution had failed because of problems including difficulty accessing Pike’s veins and what they described as concerns over the condition of the pentobarbital used.
“Tonight the State of Tennessee once again failed to carry out a lawful execution,” Pike’s legal team said in a statement reported by The Tennessean.
The lawyers alleged that Pike had experienced “difficult vein access” and “blown veins” and claimed the execution protocol did not provide adequate emergency medical care when complications arose.
They also questioned whether the pentobarbital used during the execution had degraded and criticised what they described as secrecy surrounding Tennessee’s execution procedures.
A federal judge intervened after the emergency application was filed. District Judge Clifton L Corker issued a ruling noting that “medical personnel have begun to administer medical care as requested in the motion”.
The Tennessee Department of Correction, however, said it stood by the actions taken by officials during the attempted execution.
“The Tennessee Department of Correction followed every step of the State’s lawful, established execution protocol approved by the Attorney General’s Office,” department spokesperson Dorinda Carter told The Tennessean.
The circumstances have placed renewed focus on the state’s execution procedures and the medical complications that can arise during lethal injection.
Pike was sentenced to death in 1996 for the murder of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer. She was 18 when Slemmer was killed following an encounter at a job training camp for troubled teenagers.
According to the case against Pike, she and her then-boyfriend, Tadaryl Shipp, attacked and tortured Slemmer before killing her.
Slemmer’s mother, May Martinez, had publicly supported Pike’s execution.
“Every time I think about it, I think about Colleen feeling that pain and trying to get up and run,” Martinez told the Associated Press before the scheduled execution.
Pike’s case has drawn attention for decades because of the brutality of Slemmer’s killing and Pike’s age at the time of the crime. She is now 50 and has spent roughly three decades on death row.
The latest development leaves the legal status of the execution uncertain. Pike’s lawyers sought an emergency stay while she was receiving medical treatment, arguing that the state could not proceed with the execution after the apparent failure of the lethal injection.
The Tennessee Department of Correction has not accepted the characterisation of the procedure as a failure of its protocol and maintains that officials followed the authorised process.
