Lawyers say execution team never realized IV lines had blown
Tennessee death row inmate Christa Pike remained unconscious, intubated and on a ventilator on Thursday night, a day after prison officials attempted to execute her with two lethal doses of pentobarbital that did not kill her, her lawyers said in court filings. Pike, 50, was transported by ambulance to a Nashville hospital, where staff are working to save her life and clear the drug from her system.
Pike was sentenced to death in 1996 for the murder of Colleen Slemmer. Her attorneys filed an emergency motion on Friday seeking to preserve “any and all evidence” related to the procedure, including physical, electronic and written materials, and are seeking commutation of her sentence following the failed attempt.
According to the filing, prison officials attempted to gain intravenous access by using at least seven needles on Pike, one of which bent at a 90-degree angle when it was removed. At one point during the procedure, Pike herself offered guidance on where staff could try to insert a line.
While receiving the two doses, “she could be heard crying, whimpering, and breathing loudly throughout the procedure,” the filing states. According to the lawyers, Pike reacted to the IV access attempts and asked those present about the procedure as it unfolded.
Pike’s attorneys had previously warned that her medical conditions — including thrombocytosis, a blood-clotting disorder, and small veins — meant there was a risk she would suffer “unnecessary” pain and suffering during a lethal injection.
In the latest filings, the lawyers allege that “at no point did any member of the execution team realise that the IV lines were not correctly placed or that the veins had blown and that the pentobarbital was, in whole or in part, entering Ms Pike’s body.” They are requesting that all relevant physical, written and electronic evidence be preserved.