Death row inmate survives two lethal injections

NASHVILLE, Tennessee — Tennessee death row inmate Christa Pike was taken to a hospital after remaining alive following two injections of pentobarbital during an attempted execution, according to her lawyers and the Tennessee Department of Correction.

Pike, 50, was scheduled to be executed at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville on September 30. Her attorneys subsequently filed an emergency motion seeking to halt the procedure, saying she still had a heartbeat after the two injections.

One of Pike’s lawyers told the BBC that she was receiving life-saving medical treatment at a hospital. Witnesses reported that Pike remained alive for an extended period following the injections.

The Tennessee Department of Correction confirmed that Pike had been transported to an off-site medical facility. The department said the state followed its established execution protocol and that the protocol did not provide for additional procedures beyond those carried out that evening.

Pike’s case had already drawn significant legal attention before the execution attempt. Earlier on September 30, a federal appeals court temporarily stayed her execution while considering arguments concerning evidence of childhood abuse and other mitigating circumstances. The U.S. Supreme Court subsequently cleared the way for the execution to proceed.

Pike was convicted of the 1995 murder of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer, a fellow Job Corps student in Knoxville. Pike was 18 at the time of the killing and was sentenced to death in 1996.

Her execution would have made her the first woman put to death by Tennessee in more than 200 years. Her attorneys had argued that her history of childhood abuse and other circumstances should be considered in determining her sentence.

Following the failed execution attempt, the case has raised new questions about Tennessee’s execution procedures. The state’s Department of Correction maintains that its personnel followed the approved protocol.