Christa Pike ‘nonetheless alive’ regardless of seven needles being utilized in botched execution
Convicted killer Christa Pike survived two lethal injection doses and seven needles in a horrific death chamber ordeal, her lawyer says
Death row killer Christa Pike remains in a critical condition following a botched execution(Image: Tennessee Department of Correction/AFP via Getty Images)
Death row killer Christa Pike remains in a critical condition following a botched execution that saw her jabbed with seven needles before surviving two doses of lethal drugs, her attorney has said. The 50-year-old inmate remains unresponsive but is not in a coma after the chaotic attempt to end her life went drastically wrong at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville.
Pike’s legal team blasted the state of Tennessee over the ordeal, slamming it as “inefficient, cruel, and torturous.”
Speaking at a press conference on Thursday, attorney Randy Spivey confirmed: “Christa is alive. We don’t have a sense of her prognosis or much update on her health.” Defending lawyers revealed the execution team spent an hour desperately hunting for a vein.
Pike remains unresponsive but is not in a coma after the chaotic attempt to end her life(Image: AP Photo/George Walker IV)
“I counted at least seven needles used in her left arm alone,” Spivey said, adding that one needle appeared bent when pulled out.
Attorney Stephen Ferrell revealed Pike actually tried to help executioners find a vein, remaining “kind”, “cooperative”, and “at peace”.
He said: “Ms. Pike was not just cooperative, but was trying to help instruct the people placing the IV lines of where they could find them.
Pike’s legal team blasted the state of Tennessee over the ordeal, slamming it as ‘inefficient’(Image: WBIR-TV via AP)
“She over and over again said, ‘Please, try up on my shoulder higher. Please, try here, please try here. I think it will be okay,’ and she thanked them, at least when they thought they had established a line.”
Witnesses described hearing Pike snore deeply while strapped to the gurney. She reportedly complained of a burning feeling and said a vein felt like it was “going to bust,” with blistering seen around injection sites.
Curtains were repeatedly drawn to hide the death chamber, leaving observers in the dark while Pike struggled and choked.
Media witness Will Puckett, one of only seven journalists present, described the 22-hour ordeal as “surreal” after delays signalled immediate trouble.
Recalling a warning from a colleague, Puckett told The U.S. Sun: “As we’re sitting in this room…one of my colleagues in there, who had seen her fair share of executions…leaned over and said, ‘It should not be taking this long for the curtains to open. Something’s going wrong.'”
Puckett noted her legs moved like a “swimming stroke” and added: “At no point did she scream… A couple of times did it look like it was going to be her final breath. It was just, this looks, this is obviously going wrong.”
Governor Bill Lee has halted all executions in Tennessee for the remainder of the year and launched an independent review.
Pike was set to be the first woman executed in the state in over 200 years for the brutal 1995 murder of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer, who was slashed, carved with a pentagram and beaten with asphalt.
