Tennessee death row inmate Christa Pike may have sustained a brain injury after surviving two doses of the lethal-injection drug, according to a medical expert involved with her legal team.
Pike, 50, was scheduled to be executed Sept. 30 and was strapped to a gurney when witnesses said she continued breathing and snoring after receiving two doses of pentobarbital Wednesday night.
Is Christa Pike Still Alive?
Following the injections, Pike’s attorneys received federal approval to stop the execution after reporting that she had “not lost consciousness” and still “has a heartbeat,” according to NBC News.
Pike was taken to a hospital for treatment, but her condition remains unknown. Dr. Joel Zivot, a professor at Emory University School of Medicine who has joined her legal team, told the BBC that the failed execution could leave her with brain damage.
“It’s very possible,” Zivot said, “that as a consequence of the delay of the beginning of resuscitation she will have a brain injury.”
An attorney for Pike told Oxygen that they “should have more information later today” regarding her medical condition.
A Department of Correction spokesperson declined to discuss Pike’s condition with NBC News, saying only that she had been “transported to an off-site medical facility.” Oxygen also contacted the department but did not receive an immediate response.
What Happened to Death Row Inmate Christa Pike?
Pike was set to die for the 1995 murder of Colleen Slemmer, but the execution was temporarily delayed on the morning of Sept. 30 after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit issued a “short stay of execution to properly analyze the parties’ fully briefed arguments,” according to The New York Times.
The execution resumed that evening. Pike delivered her final statement before officials administered pentobarbital shortly before 7:30 p.m.
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A short time later, Pike complained that “the vein in my arm feels like it’s about to bust,” WKRN reported.
Although Pike’s attorneys told NBC News that witnesses saw executioners administer “both syringes of the lethal injection chemicals,” Pike was reportedly grinding her jaw and loudly snoring. Her lawyers then filed an emergency motion with the Tennessee Supreme Court seeking to halt the execution, according to The Associated Press.
“Carrying out a lawfully imposed sentence is among the State’s most serious responsibilities, and the people of Tennessee expect it to be done in a manner that is not only legal and constitutional, but is effective,” Gov. Bill Lee said in a statement. He ordered a comprehensive, independent review of the incident and announced that the state’s remaining scheduled execution would not take place this year.
Lee said Thursday morning that he was “disappointed” by the botched execution.
“Tennesseans deserve a justice system that is fair, that’s consistent, that is faithfully administered,” he said, per NBC News. “My responsibility is to uphold the sentences that Tennessee juries have handed down, even when it’s difficult, and that is exactly what we intend to do in the days ahead.”
A Department of Correction spokesperson said the agency had “followed every step of the State’s lawful, established execution protocol approved by the Attorney General’s Office,” the outlet reported.
What Was Christa Pike Convicted Of?
Pike has spent years on Tennessee’s death row for her role in Slemmer’s 1995 killing. Prosecutors said Pike and her boyfriend, Tadaryl Shipp, lured Slemmer to her death before beating and stabbing her and carving a pentagram into her body.
Shipp was 17 when the killing occurred and was therefore ineligible for the death penalty. He received a life sentence and was denied parole last year, The Associated Press reports.
May Martinez, Slemmer’s mother, described the attempted execution to NBC News as “a mess.”
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