Members of Tennessee’s execution team repeatedly struggled to place functioning IV lines in Christa Pike’s arms before her attempted execution, at one point warning that some of her veins may have ruptured, or “blown,” before the lethal injection was administered, according to a court filing submitted Thursday by her attorney.
The medical team used roughly 10 needles and attempted access at several locations on both arms, attorney Randy Spivey wrote. Even after establishing the final IV, team members reportedly had difficulty flushing it with saline. The filing offers the most extensive account yet of the execution attempt.
Pike, 50, survived two doses of pentobarbital during the Sept. 30 execution attempt and was later hospitalized. The state had sought to put her to death for the 1995 stabbing murder of her classmate, Colleen Slemmer. Pike was 18 when she and her boyfriend tortured and killed Slemmer, making her one of the youngest women ever sentenced to death.
Tennessee’s execution procedures require officials to administer a second dose of pentobarbital if the first does not cause death. However, the protocol does not explain how officials should proceed if the person remains alive after the second injection.
After the failed execution, Pike spent several days on a ventilator in a hospital. Her attorneys at one point feared she would not survive, but she eventually regained consciousness and was returned to prison after her release from medical care.
The incident has intensified questions about Tennessee’s lethal injection procedures. Spivey’s filing was submitted in a separate case in which death row prisoners are challenging the state’s method of carrying out executions.
“Our predictions about the likelihood of botched executions have come true — and will continue to come true — without substantial change,” said Kit Thomas, an attorney representing death row prisoners in the case.
Nearly an hour of IV attempts
According to Spivey, the execution team began attempting to place the two IVs required under Tennessee protocol at 6:34 p.m. When the team encountered difficulties, Pike tried to assist, suggesting they search for a usable vein higher up on her arm.
An IV was inserted into Pike’s right arm in about six minutes. Establishing a second line in her left arm took nearly an hour.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: I will continue to have affairs with my friends' wives for my whole life because I relish the control – NewsFinale
Pike winced and grimaced as team members moved needles inside her left arm, Spivey wrote. The workers repeatedly voiced uncertainty about whether the lines had been placed correctly.
At 6:57 p.m., one team member said a vein in Pike’s left arm might be “blowing,” while two others said they could not determine whether that had happened. One of them reportedly said words to the effect of, “It’s either blood or blown, I need to know,” according to the filing.
The team then tried another location in Pike’s left arm. When the needle was removed, it appeared to be badly bent, Spivey said. At 7:07 p.m., he recalled hearing a team member say, “I think it’s blown.” After additional attempts, officials concluded at 7:13 p.m. that the left-arm IV was working. Pike’s hands were secured, and she was connected to a heart monitor.
Pike complained of burning arm pain
About five minutes later, a series of calls began between the execution chamber and the adjoining room where officials were responsible for pushing pentobarbital into the IV lines. Spivey wrote that the calls appeared to involve repeated requests for the IV team to inspect Pike’s left arm.
The exact time the pentobarbital entered the IV lines remains unclear. At 7:34 p.m., however, Pike complained that her arm was hurting.
“I feel like my arm is about to bust. It burns,” Pike said, according to Spivey. She continued speaking with her spiritual adviser for roughly 10 more minutes before beginning to make what the attorney described as an “agitated snoring sound.”
For the next half-hour, Pike strained, flinched, moved her head and appeared to have difficulty breathing, Spivey wrote. When he asked to use a telephone, he said officials took him on a seven-minute route through the facility rather than allowing him to use the phone in the execution witness room.
At 8:22 p.m., Spivey called other attorneys and asked them to intervene, saying Tennessee’s protocol did not authorize a third dose of pentobarbital. He then returned to the witness room and told the deputy attorney general that Pike required immediate medical attention.
Spivey was informed at 8:50 p.m. that an ambulance was on its way. Twenty minutes later, he was told that medical personnel were performing life-saving measures. An ambulance was seen arriving at the hospital at 9:14 p.m., according to the filing.
RELATED: Inside Justin Bieber’s Ex Sahara Ray’s Devastating Final Days