Christa Pike told medical personnel that her arm felt as though it might “burst open” and questioned whether something had gone wrong during Tennessee’s failed attempt to execute her, according to her attorneys.
Pike, 50, remains unconscious and on a ventilator after receiving two doses of pentobarbital during Wednesday’s botched lethal injection. The death-row inmate was convicted of killing her Job Corps classmate in 1995. Court filings cite experts who compare the drug’s effects to corrosive substances such as bleach or Drano.
Execution personnel reportedly made at least seven attempts to access a vein. According to the filing, one of the needles was removed bent at a 90-degree angle.
During the procedure at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville, Pike said: “My arm feels like it’s about to burst open.”
She then asked the all-female execution team, “Does this happen like that?”
Her lawyers said witnesses heard Pike crying and struggling to breathe throughout the procedure.
Pike’s experts maintain that pentobarbital is a highly alkaline, caustic chemical capable of burning flesh, tissue and veins when it comes into contact with them. They likened it to common household products including bleach and Drano.
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After she was taken to a Nashville hospital, both of Pike’s arms were reportedly swollen, blistered and badly burned, court documents state.
Pike is believed to be the only person to survive a lethal injection after the execution drugs entered the bloodstream.
She has remained in critical condition since the failed execution. Her attorney, Randy Spivey, said she likely sustained permanent brain damage.
Pike was 18 in January 1995 when she killed her 19-year-old Job Corps classmate, Colleen Slemmer. Pike later said she acted out of jealousy because she believed Slemmer wanted to take her boyfriend.
Pike, her 17-year-old boyfriend Tadaryl Shipp and their 18-year-old friend Shadolla Peterson lured Slemmer to a secluded area of the University of Tennessee’s Knoxville campus, where they tortured and attacked her.
Pike ultimately killed Slemmer by striking her in the head with a piece of asphalt. She also kept part of the victim’s skull as a souvenir. A jury sentenced Pike to death in 1996.
Shipp was sentenced to life in prison because he was a minor at the time of the crime. Peterson, who testified against Pike and Shipp, received probation for her role as an accessory.