Pike blames 'incompetence' after surviving Tennessee execution
The 50-year-old inmate described weeks of physical pain and mental distress following the Sept. 30 incident.
By George Parker ·
Christa Pike stated on Friday that she continues to experience constant pain one month after surviving a lethal injection in Tennessee. She attributed the failed execution to "incompetence" in her first public comments since the Sept. 30 incident.
Pike, 50, was scheduled to die for the 1995 stabbing death of Colleen Slemmer. At the time of the crime, Pike was 18. She and her boyfriend had tortured and killed Slemmer, making Pike one of the youngest women sentenced to death in the state. The state administered two doses of pentobarbital during the procedure.
Prior to the execution date, Pike said she did not expect to live beyond that day. She described waking up alone and confused in a hospital bed instead of dying peacefully. Her legal team reported that the procedure left her arms burned and blistered. Experts suggest a problem with the IV line may have caused the drug to pool in her tissue rather than enter her bloodstream. Pike remained unconscious and on a ventilator for several days after the event.
The incident triggered immediate political reaction in Tennessee. Gov. Bill Lee ordered an investigation into the failed execution. He also postponed the state’s other lethal injection scheduled for this year. The prison chief resigned following the incident.
Pike’s attorneys have asked Gov. Lee to reduce her sentence to life imprisonment. Lee told reporters this week that he suspects her sentence will remain the same unless the courts decide otherwise. The governor has not yet made a final decision on the commutation request.
Pike is currently housed at the Debra K. Johnson Rehabilitation Center. She was hospitalized immediately after the failed execution before returning to the prison infirmary. Her statement was dictated to her legal team from that location. She thanked medical workers for saving her life and noted that some days finding hope is difficult.
She remains in the prison infirmary while recovering. The investigation into the medical procedure is ongoing.
Source: KSTP 5 Eyewitness News
