Christa Pike, a female death row inmate in Tennessee, still had a pulse and was snoring after receiving two doses of lethal injection drugs. Her attorneys filed an emergency motion to halt the execution before she was taken to a hospital, while authorities have yet to disclose her current condition.
Christa Pike, a 50-year-old female death row inmate in Tennessee, U.S., was taken to a hospital after the lethal injection execution on 30 Sep 2023 local time failed to be completed, despite officials administering two doses of pentobarbital, the drug used for executions.
Pike's lawyers filed an emergency motion with the court during the execution process, stating that Pike remained conscious, had a pulse, and was snoring. They requested officials to stop the execution and provide immediate medical care. Later, one attorney told the media that Pike was hospitalized and receiving life support but her exact condition was unknown. The Tennessee Department of Correction has not released details about her status.
Authorized reporters observing the execution stated that the process began in the evening at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville. After the first dose, Pike still responded and reportedly complained of pain in her arm before officials administered a second dose around 20:26. Snoring was then heard from the execution chamber, and the curtain was closed several times before officials ended media observation at about 20:53.
This incident occurred just hours after the U.S. Supreme Court allowed the execution to proceed, overturning a temporary stay issued earlier that morning by the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals. The stay had been requested to review Pike's legal team's arguments concerning her history of sexual abuse and rape during childhood.
The U.S. Supreme Court lifted the stay without providing a reason. Three liberal justices—Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, and Ketanji Brown Jackson—dissented. Sotomayor stated that lifting the stay allowed Tennessee to execute Pike before her legal appeals were fully considered.
Previously, the appeals court had sought more time to determine whether Pike's claims of childhood sexual abuse and rape were properly considered during her death sentence trial. Lawyers noted that Tennessee had long argued Pike fabricated her abuse claims, but in the most recent hearing, the state did not dispute that she had been abused and raped.
Experts on lethal injection executions described this case as highly unusual, reporting that Pike remained alive after two doses of execution drugs. Some medical experts suggested that she may not have received a sufficient dosage to stop her breathing and heart function.
Pike was sentenced to death for the 1995 murder of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer when Pike was only 18. Pike and her then-boyfriend, Tadarrius Shippen, were accused of luring Slemmer, a classmate from a youth training program, to a remote area in Knoxville before attacking and killing her.
The case attracted significant attention because a pentagram was carved into Slemmer's body along with other details linked to the 1980s-1990s Satanic panic in the U.S. Pike admitted involvement in the murder but denied carving the symbol.
Shippen, who was 17 at the time, received a life sentence with the possibility of parole. Another accomplice, who was 18 then, received probation for cooperating with authorities, making Pike the only person in the case sentenced to death.
Pike's legal team also filed a clemency petition citing her history of severe physical and sexual abuse during childhood, along with diagnosed mental health issues. Pike expressed remorse in the petition, acknowledging the profound impact of her actions on the victim, family, and others.
However, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee denied Pike's clemency request this week, allowing the execution to proceed after the U.S. Supreme Court cleared the way.
Pike is the only woman on Tennessee's death row, and if executed, she would be the first woman the state has put to death in over 200 years. According to the Death Penalty Information Center, since the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976, only 18 women nationwide have been executed compared to 1,663 men, representing about 1% of all executions.
This is also the second time this year Tennessee has failed to carry out a scheduled execution. In May, the execution of Tony Carruthers was called off after officials were unable to successfully insert an IV line to administer the lethal drugs for an extended period.
Meanwhile, Colleen Slemmer's mother, May Martinez, previously affirmed her wish to see Pike face the sentence and said she had awaited this day for decades since losing her daughter in 1995.
It remains undisclosed how Tennessee will proceed after the execution failed to cause Pike's death, and no official announcement has been made regarding the timing or method of any subsequent action.