Death Row Killer Christa Pike Strangled Inmate with Shoelace in 2001 Prison Attack

Christa Pike, who survived a botched lethal injection in Tennessee, was also convicted of attempting to strangle a fellow inmate in 2001. The Sun reports she remains on a ventilator after the failed execution.

Christa Pike convicted of second murder attempt after shoelace strangling in prison

Christa Pike, the Tennessee death row inmate who survived a botched lethal injection earlier this week, had already been convicted of a second violent crime while serving her original sentence, The Sun reports. In 2001, Pike attempted to kill fellow prisoner Patricia Jones by strangling her with a shoestring. She was convicted of attempted first-degree murder in 2004.

Pike, now 50, was originally sentenced to death in 1996 for the murder of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer. The killing was carried out alongside her then-boyfriend Tadaryl Shipp, whom Pike claimed Slemmer had been trying to steal from her. Slemmer's body, carved with satanic symbols and badly beaten, was initially mistaken for an animal. Pike has never denied killing Slemmer but described herself at the time as "a mentally ill 18-year-old kid."

She has been held at the Debra K. Johnson Rehabilitation Center in Nashville since her conviction.

Had the execution succeeded, Pike would have been the first woman executed in Tennessee in more than 200 years.

Escape plot and failed execution

In 2009, five years after her attempted murder conviction, two men were arrested in connection with a plot to break Pike out of prison. Kristin Helm, spokesperson for the bureau at the time, said: "We thwarted it in its infant stages. It would have been nearly impossible to carry out." Former prison guard Justin Heflin was indicted for his role in the foiled attempt, and Pike's then-boyfriend Donald Kohut was also charged.

The execution attempt this week has left Pike in a critical condition. She is intubated, on a ventilator, and remains unconscious, according to court filings as of Thursday night. Her arms are burned, blistered, and swollen — her attorneys say she was struck with at least seven needles. Lawyers had raised concerns about the procedure months earlier, noting that Pike had small veins and a blood condition that could complicate IV insertion.

Legal questions over further execution

Dr Joel Zivot, a medical adviser to Pike's legal team, told The Sun that there are circumstances in which an inmate may be considered too ill to be put to death. "If Pike's health can never be restored to some degree where it would be conceivable that she could actually be executed again, then she may not face that," he said. However, Zivot added that if she recovers sufficiently, a second execution attempt remains possible.

Tennessee Governor Bill Lee has paused all remaining executions scheduled for 2026 following the failed procedure, and has ordered a review of the state's execution protocols.

Clemency bid and childhood trauma

In recent weeks, Pike's legal team had petitioned the governor to commute her sentence to life without parole, arguing her crime could not be separated from her traumatic upbringing. The clemency petition details childhood violence, neglect, and sexual abuse, including reported rapes at the ages of 11 and 17. Lawyers also pointed to evidence that Pike's mother drank heavily during pregnancy, which they argue impaired her brain development and impulse control.

Her attorneys said: "With time and treatment, Christa has become a thoughtful woman with deep remorse for her crime." Hospital staff have been working to clear the lethal drug from her system and stabilise her condition. What legal steps follow remains uncertain.

Source: The Sun