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Christa Pike Survives Botched Execution Attempt
Confirmed
In Short: Christa Pike, a Tennessee inmate, survived a botched execution attempt and described ongoing pain.
Christa Pike, a Tennessee inmate, survived a botched execution attempt and described ongoing pain.
Pike, 50, was given two doses of the lethal injection drug pentobarbital but was found alive and hospitalized after the procedure.
In a statement released by her legal team, Pike said, 'There hasn't been a moment since that night when I haven't been in pain.'
Pike's lawyers reported that she had suffered from pneumonia following the attempt, had significant swelling on her arms, and was unable to swallow.
Pike and her then-boyfriend, Tadaryl Shipp, were convicted of the 1995 murder of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer.
Tennessee Governor Bill Lee ordered an independent review to determine what went wrong during the execution.
Pike's veins may have ruptured before the lethal injection was administered, according to her legal team.
The Tennessee Department of Correction has defended the method used but has not provided a detailed explanation for the failure.
Pike expressed her pain and confusion in a statement, saying, 'I had not contemplated life beyond that night, and I'm deeply hurt by the incompetence that has put so many people in this terrible position.'
She added, 'I don't know why I survived that night. Some days, finding hope is harder than others. For now, I am trying to heal, one day at a time.'
What this adds
Pike is the only known person to have survived an execution attempt in the U.S. where the drug was administered, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.
Tennessee House Speaker Cameron Sexton mentioned alternative execution methods, including the firing squad, as potential solutions to the current issues.
Background
Christa Pike, the sole woman on Tennessee’s death row, describes physical and emotional pain following her botched execution attempt.
What's confirmed
- "I had not contemplated life beyond that night," Pike said in her statement.
- "I don't know what comes next. Some days, finding hope is harder than others. For now, I am trying to heal, one day at a time. And I am holding on to the love and kindness of so many people who have reminded me that I am not alone."
What's still developing
- I've seen nearly 500 executions - but never one like Christa Pike's I interviewed Christa Pike 20 years ago - I can't stop thinking about her What happened in Christa Pike's failed US execution, and how did she survive?
- "But healing is not the same as being okay." Pike was 18 when she and her then-boyfriend, Tadaryl Shipp, beat, tortured and killed 19-year-old Slemmer, whom they had met at a job training camp for low-income young people.
- While other executions have been halted, generally they involved difficulties with finding a vein for the lethal injection.
- "She is still incarcerated under the laws of the state of Tennessee and I suspect her sentence will be the same as it was before, unless determined otherwise by the courts."
- Pike survived Tennessee's execution attempt after receiving two doses of pentobarbital and was taken to the hospital after her arms were " swollen, burned and blistered." She was unconscious in the hospital and on a ventilator before she woke up and began talking on Oct.
- On Oct. 10, Pike's attorneys said she was discharged from the hospital and was transported to Deborah K.
- This comes after the state failed to execute her on Sept.
- RELATED COVERAGE | Pike’s arms were 'swollen, burned and blistered' after failed execution, attorneys say She added that the pain is in her arms, hands and throat, saying she struggles to speak.
- Read the full statement from Pike that she shared to her legal team below: Several days later I woke up alone in a hospital confused and in pain.
- Tennessee House Speaker Cameron Sexton told FOX 17 News there are several alternative execution methods on the table, including the firing squad.
- This undated photo provided by May Martinez shows her daughter, Colleen Slemmer, who was murdered in 1995 in Tennessee. (May Martinez via AP) Pike, who was 18 years old at the time of the crime, helped lure Slemmer to a secluded area near the University of Tennessee in Knoxville.
- “That may be a possibility in the future. So, we're going to look at all alternatives, and we're going to look at all 50 states to see what they do but we're going to come up with solutions to this situation,” Sexton said.