Christa Pike still in critical condition after surviving execution

NASHVILLE — Christa Pike remains in critical condition and is receiving life-saving medical treatment after surviving Tennessee’s attempt to execute her by lethal injection on Wednesday.

Pike, who was sentenced to death for the 1995 murder of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer, received two doses of pentobarbital intended to kill her. Despite the injections, she remained alive. Her attorneys have not released further details about her medical condition.

Pike had been set to become the first woman executed in Tennessee in approximately 200 years. Her medical and legal future is now uncertain.

Governor Bill Lee announced that Tennessee’s last remaining scheduled execution of the year will not go forward while an independent review determines exactly what happened during Pike’s execution attempt.

Media witnesses said Pike gave her final words at around 7:26 p.m. After the drugs were administered, however, she continued breathing and appeared to remain alive. One reporter who had witnessed several previous executions described the events as highly unusual.

The Tennessee Department of Correction maintains that officials followed every step of the state’s established execution protocol and that no additional procedure was authorized after the doses were administered.

Pike’s attorneys are now calling on Governor Lee to commute her death sentence. They say they had warned beforehand that difficulties accessing her veins could complicate the lethal injection procedure and argue that Wednesday’s events confirmed those concerns.

The case could create an unusual legal situation. In the past, prisoners who survived an initial execution attempt have faced a second attempt. Legal experts say Pike’s case is different, however, because the lethal drugs were actually administered into her body and she still survived.