Christa Pike on ventilator after botched execution in Tennessee
Tennessee death row inmate Christa Pike remains in critical condition after a failed lethal injection left her unconscious and intubated. Her lawyers filed an emergency motion demanding the state preserve all evidence from the botched execution.
Tennessee death row inmate critical after failed lethal injection attempt
Christa Pike, the Tennessee death row inmate who survived an execution attempt earlier this week, remains in critical condition at a Nashville hospital, her lawyers confirmed in a statement Friday, NBC News reports. She is unconscious, intubated and breathing through a ventilator, and is being treated for significant injuries to both arms after two lethal injections of pentobarbital failed to kill her.
At one point during the procedure, Pike said it felt as though her arm was exploding, and witnesses reported hearing her whimper. "We are working closely with those closest to Christa to respect her wishes, safeguard her privacy and protect her rights as a patient during this extraordinarily difficult time," said attorney Luke Ihnen. "We ask that the public and the media respect that privacy as well."
The state of Tennessee attempted to execute Pike on Wednesday night for a murder she committed at the age of 18. Now 50, she had spent decades on death row and would have been the first woman executed in Tennessee in 200 years.
Emergency motion demands evidence be preserved
Pike's attorneys filed an emergency motion Friday calling on the state to preserve all evidence from the failed execution. The filing described the scene inside the execution chamber as painful and chaotic, unfolding in front of several witnesses. Lawyers argued the outcome could have been prevented with proper care and training.
Medical staff failed to follow basic protocol, including ensuring that the needles used were fresh, functional and correctly inserted, according to the motion. The state also allegedly failed to act on Pike's concerns, raised before the procedure began, that pre-existing medical conditions could complicate a lethal injection.
The motion accuses the Tennessee Department of Corrections of "inflicting a cruel and unusual punishment on Ms. Pike through its deliberate indifference to her basic medical needs and reckless disregard of basic medical practices and their own lethal injection protocol."
NBC News had previously reported that no emergency medical oxygen was present in the execution room when the procedure went wrong. Medical personnel were required to retrieve it from elsewhere in the facility.
The Tennessee Attorney General did not return a request for comment on the new filing. A spokesperson for the state department of corrections said the agency does not comment on pending litigation.
Execution lasted more than two hours
At a press conference Thursday, Pike's attorneys Stephen Ferrell and Randall Spivey detailed how the procedure deteriorated. Spivey, who was present in the room, recalled Pike telling him she was in pain and that her arm felt as though it was about to explode.
"It's not supposed to be a cruel and an unusual execution," criminologist Deborah Denno told NBC News. "The goal is to kill somebody, but to kill them within means or in a reasonable way, where there's not going to be pain and suffering."
According to Friday's filing, the execution process lasted longer than two hours. Pike's legal team filed emergency motions in multiple courts to halt the procedure before the prison ultimately called an ambulance. "Even then," the filing states, "attorneys for the State of Tennessee argued that TDOC had no obligation to render life-saving care to Ms. Pike."
Medical explanation: drug likely missed the vein
NBC News contributor Dr. Natalie Azar, a rheumatologist, said the pain Pike described is consistent with pentobarbital flowing into surrounding tissue rather than directly into a vein. That would be painful with any medication, Azar noted, but the specific properties of pentobarbital would make the experience exceptionally uncomfortable.
The scenario would also result in a sub-lethal dose being administered. According to Azar, the drug was sufficient to suppress Pike's respiratory system but not enough to cause death. The duration of oxygen deprivation to Pike's brain will be a central factor in determining her prognosis.
"There is no reversal of pentobarbital. There is no medicine or antidote," Azar said. "You have to basically wait for the liver to metabolize the drug and get it out of your system."
Convicted in 1995 murder
Pike was convicted in connection with the 1995 murder of Colleen Slemmer in Knoxville. Pike and two teenage accomplices tortured, slashed and fatally beat Slemmer, according to Knoxville police at the time. Pike was sentenced to death. Multiple last-minute legal efforts to stop her execution this week were ultimately unsuccessful before the attempt went ahead Wednesday night.
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