Death row inmate Christa Pike was heard asking whether a burning sensation in her arm was “normal” during a botched execution that medical experts say may have caused brain damage.

The convicted killer remained alive and audibly snoring after receiving two doses of pentobarbital at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville on Wednesday. The incident has been described by experts as the “worst botched execution in the modern era.”

Witnesses in the execution chamber said Pike reported a burning spot in her arm that felt as though it might burst, then asked whether the sensation was normal.

Medical experts are now examining how Pike survived two injections of the lethal drug.

Dr. Joel Zivot, an Emory University School of Medicine professor retained by Pike’s legal team, said the pentobarbital may not have reached her bloodstream in a sufficient concentration to stop her breathing.

“It’s very possible that as a consequence of the delay of the beginning of resuscitation she will have a brain injury,” Zivot told the BBC.

Witnesses said curtains separating Pike from the viewing room closed at 7.46pm and reopened at 7.49pm. During that period, she was reportedly gasping and moaning while kicking at her bedsheet.

“Her mouth fell open a few times, and she began to loudly snore. She gasped a few times,” one witness said.

Pike was still awake and snoring more than 40 minutes after the final dose was given at 8.06pm. Witnesses were ordered to leave the prison at approximately 8.53pm.

Journalists who witnessed the procedure said “nothing we saw was normal,” describing the execution as unusually prolonged.

An Associated Press reporter said Pike “appeared noticeably awake as the execution began.” Other witnesses reported that she sang at one point with her spiritual adviser.

After being secured to the execution gurney, Pike was heard saying: “I’m going to leave this world the way I spent most of my life. And that is with love.”

Robin Maher, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center, called the incident unprecedented.

“This event is the worst we’ve seen and unlike any other botched execution in the modern era,” Maher said.

At an August hearing in Knoxville, Pike’s attorneys had argued that her thrombocytosis could increase clotting and pain during the execution.

Her lawyers also warned that Pike’s veins were difficult to access, potentially prolonging the procedure and increasing her suffering.

In a statement issued Wednesday, Pike’s attorneys said: “Tonight, the State of Tennessee once again failed to carry out a lawful execution.

“We take no pleasure in being right, but the concerns raised by Ms. Pike proved to be true: difficult vein access, blown veins, degraded pentobarbital, no emergency medical care available when things inevitably go wrong, all under a protocol that remains veiled in secrecy.”

The crime shocked the city of Knoxville and drew widespread national attention, in part because a pentagram – a star-shaped emblem linked to Satanism – was carved into Slemmer’s chest, and a portion of her skull was taken as a souvenir of the carnage.

‘Christa is being treated at a nearby hospital,’ her lawyers said. ‘We have not been informed as to her condition.’

It was the second time this year that Tennessee has been unable to carry out an execution. 

In May, state officials called off the lethal injection of Tony Carruthers, who was convicted of kidnapping and killing three people in 1994, after executioners tried and failed for over an hour to place an IV to administer pentobarbital.

Pike had been scheduled to be executed for the brutal 1995 murder of Slemmer and would have been the first woman executed in the state of Tennessee in more than 200 years.

But the procedure was delayed for hours after the US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit issued an order staying Pike’s execution ‘until further order of this court.’ 

The US Supreme Court overturned the order just before 6pm local time, clearing the way for Pike’s execution.

Following the botched execution, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee said in a statement that he has ordered a ‘comprehensive, third-party review to determine exactly what occurred’ and that the remaining scheduled execution will not take place this year. 

‘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,’ he said.

The Tennessee Department of Correction said in a statement that they ‘followed every step of the State’s lawful, established execution protocol approved by the Attorney General’s Office.’

The state’s execution protocol calls for a secondary set of drug syringes to be administered ‘if the inmate is not deceased’ after the first set. It does not spell out what happens if the subject is alive after the second set.

Maher added that what Pike experienced is ‘singular and unparalleled’, noting that seven other people have survived medical problems due to an execution team’s failure to access a vein to administer lethal injection drugs, but no one has stayed alive after receiving the drugs used in such an execution. 

The mishap was just the latest in a string of events that delayed the enactment of her death sentence, which was originally scheduled for 10am on Wednesday

But it wasn’t until 7.26pm that the curtains into the execution chamber opened and Pike and her spiritual advisor were seen singing a song before the killer made her final remarks, media witnesses have described.

By 7.46pm prison officials closed the curtain to the media room. They then raised the curtain again three minutes later. At that time, Pike could be heard loudly snoring, and the curtain was closed again at 8.06pm.

Pike continued to be heard snoring behind the closed curtain until the microphone was cut off at about 8.53pm. At that time, there was an announcement to escort media witnesses out of the area.

‘We have a lot of questions,’ one reporter said at an ensuing news conference. ‘And the [Tennessee Department of Corrections] has a lot of answers it needs to provide the public.’

Tori Gessner, a reporter at WKRN who has witnessed several executions, also emphasised: ‘Nothing about today was normal, typical, at all.’

Attorney Amy Harwell has since driven an emergency motion to the Tennessee Supreme Court.

‘Ms Pike has not lost consciousness and still has a heartbeat and is audibly snoring,’ the attorneys wrote in the motion filed in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee.

Another emergency motion was filed with the US Supreme Court, seeking to immediately halt and stay the execution. Lawyers claimed in that filing that Pike was in ‘unnecessary agony,’ and the botched execution constituted cruel and unusual punishment.

The motion further asserted that the Department of Correction should begin lifesaving measures.

‘Failure to provide such care constitutes deliberate indifference to legitimate, serious medical needs,’ her lawyers asserted.

Federal Judge Clifton L. Corker has since declared that ‘medical personnel have begun to administer medical care as requested in the motion.’

Pike’s attorneys had previously asked for an all-female firing squad to kill her or to be hanged, the New York Post reported.

Having Pike be restrained and handled by men could retraumatize her because of past sexual abuse, her lawyers had claimed, noting that she suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder.

‘[Lethal injection administered by men] will increase the likelihood that an Eighth Amendment violation will occur,’ Ferrell said.

‘There is an increased risk of pain and suffering.’

According to the Cornell Center on the Death Penalty Worldwide, Pike was a victim of child sexual abuse, multiple rapes and attempted suicide at age 12.

When she was 17, she was allegedly grabbed by a stranger by the side of the road and raped. Police never arrested a suspect.

She killed Colleen Slemmer almost one year to the day after the alleged rape.

She was convicted at the age of 18 in March 1996 for brutally stabbing and beating Knoxville Job Corps student Colleen Slemmer to death. 

Her boyfriend, Tadaryl Shipp, and an accomplice, Shadolla Peterson, also helped lure Slemmer to a wooded area before the couple tortured her to death.

The pair carved a pentagram into the teen’s chest, and Peterson testified that she saw Pike also carve something into Slemmer’s head, police evidence showed.

Pike also took a piece of her skull as a souvenir, according to investigators.

Slemmer attempted to run for her life, but the couple captured her again and continued the gruesome torture that lasted about 30 minutes to an hour, Pike estimated.

Pike and Shipp were both found guilty of first-degree murder. She was sentenced to death, and he received a life sentence with the possibility of parole.

Peterson, then 18, served as a lookout for the couple during the deadly attack and was granted probation in exchange for her cooperation.

Pike has not denied her guilt, but her attorneys and supporters argued that a death sentence is not appropriate for a crime committed at that age by a teenager with untreated mental illness after a childhood of brutal sexual abuse and neglect.

In a clemency petition, the lawyers argued that Pike’s untreated mental illness and background made her unable to ‘put the brakes on.’ She had told police that she initially only wanted to fight Slemmer but ended up killing her in the frenzied attack.

‘I was a mentally ill 18-year-old kid. It took me numerous years to even realise the gravity of what I’d done. Even more to accept how many lives I affected. I took the life of someone’s child, sister, friend. It sickens me now to think I had the ability to commit such a crime,’ Pike said in a statement included in her clemency petition.

Assistant federal defender Stephen Ferrell further argued that more is known today about adolescent brain development and that Pike’s death sentence is an outlier.

Still, Governor Lee said he decided not to intervene in the case ‘after deliberate consideration of Christa Gail Pike’s request for clemency and after a thorough review of the case.’

Following the ruling, Pike refused to select a last meal, according to the Tennessee Department of Correction.

Inmates are typically given $20 to spend on their last meal, according to The Tennessean. The state still planned to provide Pike with a meal before the procedure.

During Wednesday’s broadcast of CNN’s “Inside Politics,” CNN Senior National Correspondent Kyung Lah said California’s high cost of living could follow Gov. Gavin Newsom as he pursues higher office.

Lah highlighted the experience of Tom Sopit, who was forced to shut down his restaurant. Sopit attributed the closure to a combination of challenges at the state, federal and municipal levels.

CONTINUE READING: Mark Zuckerberg’s ‘Doomsday’ bunker sparks frenzy for multi-million apocalypse homes with fire moats and water cannons – NewsFinale

After the report, Lah explained that California’s affordability crisis extends well beyond the cost of groceries or gasoline, which is the highest in the nation. She pointed to broader financial pressures, including insurance, child care, business fees and regulations that make construction more difficult. “All of it is just crushing,” Lah said, adding that Sopit was not trying to become wealthy—he spent a full year attempting simply to break even but ultimately had to close the business.

Lah added that Democratic candidates should pay close attention to the frustrations of younger generations who fear they cannot achieve the same level of stability as their parents. Sopit’s immigrant parents operated a restaurant in Los Angeles, but he was unable to maintain a similar business. That generational divide, Lah said, could pose a political challenge for those candidates—and particularly for Newsom as he seeks higher office.

Prisoners greeted Andy Burnham with thanks today as they became the first among thousands to leave custody under the controversial early-release programme.

From 8.30am, inmates were seen smiling, raising their fists and walking out of prisons across England and Wales.

Around 700 people serving sentences of up to 19 months are due to be released in the scheme’s opening phase. More than 4,500 prisoners are expected to leave custody early by June.

Those being freed include fraudsters, domestic abusers and offenders convicted of some violent or sexual crimes, prompting concerns about the safety of victims and the wider public.

At HMP Brixton in south London, prolific thief David Elliott said he intended to resume stealing now that he was back on the streets.

‘I’ve been in and out of jail all my life – I’ve got 360 convictions and an addiction to stealing,’ he said. ‘I’m gonna go stealing again… Whatever I get, whatever I get.’

Outside other prisons, released inmates smiled broadly and embraced girlfriends and relatives waiting at the gates.

‘Justice system, what justice system? Thank you Andy Burnham,’ one prisoner said as he left HMP Durham.

A second inmate, released from HMP Cardiff, echoed the message and said he wanted to tell the Prime Minister: ‘Thank you very much and don’t get me back here again bro.’

Wesley Austin, 33, who had been jailed for a drug offence, said his first night of freedom after leaving HMP Berwyn in Wrexham would be marked with ‘a German doner kebab’.

Not every prisoner welcomed the policy. Tom, 32, a burglar released from Cardiff Prison, described the early-release arrangement as ‘s***’.

‘I’d happily spend my time in there, I mean, I’ve been doing it for 17 years. I’ll probably be back in the next month or two,’ he told reporters.

‘It’s like a reset for me, this is. I get out, I take beer, drugs… Go back in, put a bit of weight of on, do it all again.’

The latest Labour early-release initiative follows an earlier scheme launched two years ago, under which more than 70,000 offenders were released from prison ahead of schedule.

The scenes prompted an intensifying political backlash, with critics warning that victims could bear the consequences.

Nick Timothy, the shadow justice secretary, said Labour’s scheme put the public at risk. 

‘Today’s releases are an insult to victims, a danger to the public, and will only encourage more lawbreaking from criminals who know they have a ticket out of prison,’ he said. 

‘Labour say they have no choice but to release prisoners early, but we know they don’t believe in prison. It is their decision to release vile criminals including abusers, historic child sex offenders and human traffickers – but it is the public who will pay the price.’

A man who said he had been released early from Wandsworth prison described himself as ‘very’ cheerful.

Giving his name only as John, he said he was meant to serve a six-month sentence for a ‘minor’ conviction but has been released after two months.

Asked if he was feeling cheerful he said: ‘Yeah, very.’ He told reporters he will ‘have a beer and get a fry up’.

Another man, who refused to give his name, said he has been released early after spending ‘eight days’ in prison for ‘breach of my conditional sentence’.

Asked if he thought it was right that people are being released early, he said: ‘Some people, yeah. There’s not enough space in the jails.’

Asked if he had anything to say to Mr Burnham, he said: ‘Thank you.’

Joe was jailed for common assault and spent six weeks at Wandsworth before being released this morning.

‘I suppose I’d like to thank Burnham,’ he said.

The 32-year-old added that if he ‘doesn’t stop drinking and doing gas’ then there’s a good chance he could end up back inside. 

Criticising the latest wave of early releases, domestic abuse commissioner Dame Nicole Jacobs said survivors were ‘uprooting their lives’ because ‘they simply do not trust that sufficient safeguards are in place’.

She said: ‘As the first perpetrators start to be released, survivors across the country will be looking over their shoulder and living in fear because the government and our criminal justice system has failed to protect them.

‘It is frankly shameful that as the scheme begins – which ministers have had months to prepare for – I still have no assurance that the danger perpetrators pose has been properly considered and assessed with meaningful input from victims and the specialist services supporting them.

‘I have heard from survivors who feel they have been treated as an afterthought throughout this process.

‘Many are now being forced to make their own plans to protect themselves, including uprooting their lives, because they simply do not trust that sufficient safeguards are in place to manage their abuser safely in the community.’

Dame Nicola called on Andy Burnham to take ‘urgent steps’ to improve victim safety. 

The threat faced by victims was acknowledged by Labour MP Jess Phillips, who admitted she expects ‘huge recalls’ to prison of domestic abusers. 

CONTINUE READING: Why Landlords Keep Rejecting Me Despite My Ability to Pay Rent, Forcing Me to Live in My Car? – NewsFinale

The Government repeatedly flip-flopped over the release plans, which are designed to free up space in the overcrowded jails.

After a public outcry Mr Burnham was forced to exclude offenders convicted of rape, serious child sexual and grooming offences, and later expanded exclusions to those convicted of manslaughter and other ‘unlawful killing’ offences.

But Dame Nicole said many domestic abuse perpetrators remain eligible for early release.

The scheme was devised by Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood in her previous role as Justice Secretary.

Most prisoners currently due to serve 40 or 50 per cent of sentences handed down by the courts will be freed after serving 33 per cent.

As the scheme is rolled out in the coming months, criminals convicted of certain violent or sexual offences who were previously eligible for release two-thirds of the way through their sentence will instead be let out at the halfway stage.

Ministers have attempted to reassure victims that there would be thorough risk assessments of prisoners before release and there would be a ‘presumption’ that they would be electronically tagged on release.

However, tagging schemes are in disarray.

In July spending watchdogs warned the public were being put at risk by major problems with the electronic monitoring programme.

The National Audit Office found thousands of criminals ordered to take part in the schemes never even get a tag fitted.

Another watchdog report, published earlier this week, found almost half of electronic tags are not fitted on time, again putting victims at risk.

Labour’s previous early release scheme – allowing offenders out after serving 40 per cent of their sentences – has seen 70,066 criminals freed between its launch in September 2024 and the end of March.

It led to distasteful scenes at its launch when lags celebrated their freedom outside jails.

Some were collected by friends in expensive sports cars or popped bottles of bubbly, while others vowed to be lifelong Labour voters as a result of their early release.

The replacement scheme, coming into force tomorrow, offers even larger sentence reductions for many criminals and applies to a far wider range of criminals, including those convicted of sexual and serious violent offences.

Mr Burnham paused the programme over the summer and later announced that criminals convicted of rape, serious child sex offences and grooming would be excluded.

Then there was a further outcry, with the widow of murdered PC Andrew Harper blasting the scheme as ‘deplorable’.

Lissie Harper – who married the officer one month before he was dragged to his death by a car in 2019 – blasted Labour after it emerged that two of his killers would be eligible under the new scheme.

The PM changed the terms again to exclude those convicted of unlawful killing, including all forms of manslaughter.

The early release scheme was set out in Labour’s Sentencing Act which also contained separate measures which, from March this year, largely barred the courts from imposing prison sentences of 12 months or less.

Senior police chiefs have repeatedly warned the measures as a whole will lead to an increase in crime and cost forces £400million a year to deal with.

Today, one domestic abuse survivor expressed her fears that her ex-husband will pursue her after he is let out on licence. 

Claire Milne was abused over a period of eight years by Robert Dales, 36, who was sentenced in March to three years in prison for controlling and coercive behaviour.

Ms Milne, who fled her home with her nine-week-old baby in April 2025, now fears for her life. 

‘I am scared that he will come after me – I don’t want to die,’ she told the BBC. 

‘I am not a silly woman. I know that I’ve been in a very high-risk domestic abuse relationship and I know what he’s capable of because I lived it.’

Justice Secretary Alex Norris said: ‘We understand the anxiety victims face ahead of offenders release dates, but the greatest danger to victims would be prisons running out of cells for dangerous criminals which was the crisis this government inherited.

‘Our plan will make sure this never happens again by building 14,000 prison places while subjecting offenders to the toughest ever controls – leaving them nowhere to hide and under no doubt that we are watching them.’

Sean “Diddy” Combs is reportedly being moved back into solitary confinement at FCI Fort Dix in New Jersey after allegations surfaced that he has been receiving VIP treatment behind bars.

The 56-year-old former hip-hop mogul is said to be returning to isolation after a recent NBC News investigation detailed claims that fellow inmates have been carrying out tasks for him, including cooking, cleaning and providing massages.

Sources told TMZ that the move is a routine step taken while prison authorities investigate allegations involving an inmate.

Combs was previously placed in solitary confinement in July after reportedly becoming involved in a physical altercation with another prisoner.

The latest NBC report quoted an inmate who claimed Combs has access to a cellphone, which he allegedly uses to receive nude images from a former girlfriend. The source also alleged that he has a modified tablet, described as “jail broken,” that allowed him to watch a critical documentary about him made by longtime rival 50 Cent.

Combs’ representative, Juda S. Engelmayer, told the Daily Mail: “There is no way we can independently verify those rumors.”

Four men who were housed in Combs’ unit told the publication that the music executive had allegedly created an unusually comfortable existence during his years-long prison sentence.

The sources claimed Combs obtained premium alcohol allegedly smuggled in by guards, bought an antidepressant described as mood-enhancing from fellow inmates, and relied on prisoners to hold his fan mail and cellphone.

One inmate was also said to give him massages in a Chinese style.

According to the report, maintaining the alleged perks cost Combs thousands of dollars each month.

The money was reportedly funneled through prisoners working on his behalf, with their commissary accounts replenished by contacts outside the facility.

The publication also obtained photographs of meals allegedly prepared specifically for Combs, including pizza and a plate of meat served with rice.

“This is not some normal s*** you see in jail. This is some rich s***,” one of the men was quoted as saying.

Responding to the report, Engelmayer told the Daily Mail: “The continued scrutiny of every mundane detail of Sean Combs’s life in prison has reached the point where the media characterizes ordinary prison life as news.”

“The only real news is that Sean continues to serve his sentence within the rules and he patiently awaits the court’s decision on his appeal.”

Diddy was sentenced to four years and two months in prison last year on two prostitution charges following a widely publicized trial.

A jury found Diddy guilty of two counts of transporting prostitutes across state lines for the purpose of sex at his federal trial. He was acquitted by the jury on the more serious charges of racketeering and sex trafficking.

During Combs’s trial, his ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura delivered graphic testimony, alleging that the music mogul abused her over more than a decade. 

The once Hollywood power player endured a major fall from grace after Cassie accused him of rape and repeated physical abuse in a bombshell $30 million lawsuit that was quickly settled – and prompted others to come forward with claims. 

But now, it seems he has been embraced by prisoners. 

MORE ON THIS: Hamas and Iran Chiefs Celebrate Cease-Fire Proposal, US Abstains: 'Crucial Moment of Change' – NewsFinale

‘He’s a billionaire. People are in awe of him,’ one source said. ‘Money is power, especially behind bars.’ 

In addition to the various luxuries he has allegedly been enjoying, he has apparently been online as well. 

Thanks to a ‘jailbroken’ tablet he somehow retrieved, Diddy has been watching movies and documentaries – including 50 Cent’s Sean Combs: The Reckoning – and scrolling on Instagram on a cell phone. 

‘Pretty much the day he arrived, the party started,’ a source said. 

The report alleges Diddy has purchased Remeron, an antidepressant known for being a mood booster and one that is prescribed to inmates struggling with depression and anxiety. 

Nicknamed ‘rem-roms’ by prisoners, the medication is also available in the prison’s black market, a source said. 

Inmates have also taught Diddy the ropes; in the early days of his sentence, he was allegedly seen wearing just a towel or boxer shorts after a shower, sparking inmates to issue him a warning about how the minimal clothing would make him a target for sex. 

A representative for the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) said they were unable to comment on Diddy ‘for privacy, safety, and security reasons’ when reached for comment. 

‘For privacy, safety, and security reasons, we do not comment on the conditions of confinement for any incarcerated individual, including whether a particular individual is the subject of allegations, investigations, or sanctions,’ the BOP’s Office of Public Affairs told The Daily Mail. 

‘While we do not comment on anecdotal allegations, we can provide you with the following general response to your inquiry.’

‘Like all correctional agencies, contraband, particularly cell phones, narcotics, and weapons, remains a constant challenge, and we continue to tackle the problem of contraband being introduced into our facilities. Inmates are not permitted to have access to cell phones, and all incarcerated individuals in the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) who are found to violate the “Inmate Discipline Program” policy are subject to sanctions.’

‘We are fully committed to safeguarding everyone in our custody and to maintaining the safety and security of our correctional staff and surrounding communities. To this end, we operate under a controlled environment that is both secure and humane.’

‘Additionally, based on the need to ensure safety and security in our institutions and in accordance with privacy concerns, we do not discuss potential allegations of staff misconduct, nor do we confirm or deny the existence of a corresponding investigation.’

‘However, we generally can tell you that allegations of staff misconduct are taken seriously and, consistent with national policy, referred for investigation if warranted. Incidents of potential criminal activity or misconduct inside BOP facilities are thoroughly investigated for potential administrative discipline or criminal prosecution.’

Diddy was originally set to be released in May 2028 before the date moved around multiple times. 

His initial release was pushed back to June 4, 2028, following allegations denied by his attorney that Combs drank moonshine and made an unauthorized three-way phone call.

He was granted a reprieve last October when the date was moved to April 25, 2028, owing to the FIRST STEP Act, a prison reform law from Donald Trump’s first presidency that was famously championed by Kim Kardashian and has resulted in the early release of tens of thousands of criminals.

Now Diddy is closer than ever to his release from prison.

The disgraced music mogul initially was supposed to remain behind bars until May 8, 2028, but now his release date has been moved closer than ever before.

According to the BOP, Diddy is now scheduled to be released from prison on January 21, 2028.

The date underwent several more adjustments until it reached January 21 – which marks the soonest Diddy could be released.