Christa Pike alive in critical condition after failed lethal injection execution

Christa Pike was still breathing Thursday afternoon, alive in critical condition at an off-site medical facility, her legal team announced during a virtual press conference around 1 p.m. The execution attempt had failed the night before—a rare and consequential breakdown in a process designed to be final.

Pike had been scheduled for lethal injection Wednesday morning at 10 a.m. The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals had temporarily halted the execution that morning, but the U.S. Supreme Court lifted the stay by afternoon. The execution proceeded. Two doses of pentobarbital were administered. And then, sometime between 8:25 p.m. and 8:50 p.m., the state realized something had gone catastrophically wrong. An ambulance was called. Pike was transported to a hospital. She was alive.

Randy Spivey, an attorney with the Tennessee Office of the Post-Conviction Defender, described what had happened in the execution chamber. The execution team had spent an hour trying to establish an intravenous line. Spivey counted at least seven needles inserted into Pike's left arm alone. Pike's legal team had warned the state beforehand that she had a blood disorder that made blood draws difficult throughout her life—a condition that would make IV placement agonizing. They had requested an alternative method of execution, such as hanging. If the state insisted on lethal injection, they argued, it should only proceed if a qualified medical professional could place a central line. The state had not agreed to these conditions.

What unfolded Wednesday night was, by Spivey's account, unprecedented in the history of American executions. "Christa has endured punishment greater than any other person in the history of the American death penalty," he said. The legal team also expressed frustration about the lack of transparency during the attempt. For roughly twenty-five minutes, the curtain separating the execution chamber from witnesses was closed—longer than the five-minute protocol allowed for checking vital signs. No one outside the chamber knew what was happening. It was not until around 8:50 p.m. that Pike's attorneys were told an ambulance had arrived.

Steve Farrell, an attorney with the Federal Defender Services of Eastern Tennessee, was asked whether the state might consider a different execution method in the future. He noted that the electric chair remained an option under Tennessee law. The question hung in the air: what comes next for a woman who survived an execution attempt, and for a state that had failed to carry it out?

Pike was 18 years old thirty-one years ago when she lured Colleen Slemmer, 19, into a wooded area in Knoxville. She beat and stabbed Slemmer to death. Pike's motive, according to reports, was jealousy over a boyfriend. Slemmer's mother, May Martinez, has said she believes Pike should be held accountable for the killing. That accountability, whatever form it takes, remains unresolved.