Her lawyers say Christa Pike was still conscious and had a heartbeat after two syringes of lethal drugs were given in Nashville, and they have asked a federal court to halt the execution.
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| Christa Pike in a 2004 Tennessee Department of Correction booking photo. (Tennessee Department of Correction/Handout via Reuters, file) |
Tennessee's only woman on death row was still alive after executioners administered two lethal injections Wednesday night, according to her attorneys, who filed an emergency motion in federal court seeking to stop the execution. The filing came hours after the U.S. Supreme Court cleared the way for the state to proceed.
At 8:26 p.m. local time, witnesses told Pike's lawyers that both syringes had been injected and that she was "still alive and snoring," the motion said. It also said she had not lost consciousness, still had a heartbeat, and that the curtains to the death chamber had been closed twice. Luke Ihnen, an assistant federal defender on her team, confirmed that Pike had received two syringes of the drug, according to WVLT.
Tennessee officials had not publicly explained what happened as of the latest reports. The offices of Gov. Bill Lee and the state attorney general did not immediately respond to requests for comment, and the Tennessee Department of Correction had not issued a statement.
Is Christa Pike still alive?
The reports available so far do not say whether Pike has died. Her lawyers said she was alive after the injections, and the sources do not describe the state's next steps. Online federal court records indicated that medical aid was being given, and an ambulance was seen arriving at the prison and later leaving.
What witnesses described
Several journalists who attended the execution described similar scenes. They said Pike made heavy snoring sounds, complained of pain and kicked her feet so often that she knocked off the sheets covering her. At times the curtain was closed and witnesses could only hear what was happening.
According to one witness's timeline, reported in central time, witnesses entered the viewing room at 6:41 p.m. and the curtains first opened at 7:26 p.m. They closed at 7:46 p.m., reopened at 7:49 p.m., and closed again at 8:05 p.m. Witnesses were escorted out at 8:53 p.m.
Tori Gessner, a WKRN anchor who has witnessed five executions in Tennessee, said Pike was heard at 7:34 p.m. saying, "My arm feels like it's about to burst open." Gessner said Pike then asked whether this was normal. "Nothing about today was normal, typical, at all," Gessner said at a news conference.
WVLT anchor Will Puckett, who was also in the room, said "heavy snoring" was the best description of the sounds Pike made. He said she complained of pain several times, including a throbbing spot in her arm.
John North, an investigative producer at WBIR in Knoxville, said it appeared things did not go as planned. He added, "But we don't know that." One witness said much of the process happened behind a closed curtain, where no one could see it.
When was Christa Pike scheduled to be executed?
Pike's execution was set for Wednesday morning, Sept. 30, in Nashville. The reports differ on the exact time, with one giving 10 a.m. and another 11 a.m. local time.
Less than an hour before it was to begin, the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals granted a short stay. In a split decision, it said it needed time to review the arguments. At issue was whether Pike could reopen a court proceeding over her claims that she was sexually abused starting in childhood. The state did not dispute the abuse at a special hearing in August.
The state attorney general's office then asked the Supreme Court to step in, arguing the execution should go forward to "avoid rewarding Pike's abusive delay tactics." The court lifted the stay shortly before 7 p.m. Pike's lawyers said the execution process began around 8 p.m. Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson dissented.
Sotomayor wrote that she saw "no reason to shortcircuit the ordinary process of appellate review, particularly in light of the grave consequences of an erroneous decision."
Earlier in the week, Lee said he would not grant clemency, citing "deliberate consideration." The Supreme Court had denied a separate petition from Pike on Tuesday evening.
Who is Christa Pike?
Pike, 50, was convicted in 1996 of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder in the 1995 killing of Colleen Slemmer, 19. Both women were in the Job Corps program. Knoxville police have said Pike was 18 when she and two teenage accomplices lured Slemmer to an abandoned steam plant on the University of Tennessee campus and attacked her.
The case drew wide attention because a pentagram was carved into Slemmer's chest, and Pike reportedly told another student she had kept a piece of the victim's skull. Pike does not dispute her role in the killing.
Her two accomplices received far lighter sentences. Tadaryl Shipp, Pike's 17-year-old boyfriend at the time, was sentenced to life in prison and remains eligible for parole because he was a juvenile. Shadolla Peterson, then 18, served as a lookout and received probation in exchange for her cooperation.
Pike's lawyers say the jury never heard details of her upbringing, which they describe as marked by years of sexual and physical abuse and neglect. They argue that a death sentence would not be guaranteed if that evidence were presented today. Psychologist Bethany Brand, who evaluated Pike three years ago, wrote that the trauma Pike suffered "is almost impossible to grasp because it is so severe." Brand said prison medication has helped her and that Pike now has "empathy and great regret."
Slemmer's mother, May Martinez, has said she does not believe Pike can change and that watching the execution is the only justice left for her.
A second troubled execution in Tennessee this year
This is the second time an execution has not gone as planned in the state this year. In May, the attempted execution of Tony Carruthers was called off after medical staff could not establish IV access. He was granted a one-year reprieve. Dr. Mark Fowler, who was involved in that attempt, also took part in Pike's execution. In August, Tennessee carried out the execution of Anthony Darrell Hines.
Pike's lawyers had also argued in August that a vein condition could make it difficult to administer the drugs.
If Pike is ultimately executed, she would be the first woman Tennessee has put to death in more than 200 years, according to historical records.
What happens next
The sources do not say what the state plans to do next, and no official explanation had been given. Pike's emergency motion asking a federal court to stop the execution was pending in the most recent reporting.
Image 1 Alt Text: Christa Pike, Tennessee's only woman on death row, in a 2023 photo from the Tennessee Department of Correction Caption: Christa Pike in 2023. (Tennessee Department of Correction via AP; use only if you have the rights to this photo) SEO TITLE Christa Pike Still Alive After Tennessee Lethal Injection META DESCRIPTION Christa Pike was still alive after two lethal injections in Tennessee, her lawyers said. Here is what is known about the attempted execution. TAGS Christa Pike, Tennessee execution, lethal injection, Tennessee death row, Colleen Slemmer CATEGORY US News