4 minNews
Tennessee Death Row Inmate Christa Pike in Critical Condition After Failed Execution
Christa Pike, convicted in the 1995 torture-murder of Colleen Slemmer, survived two lethal injection attempts at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution. Her attorneys say she is hospitalized in critical condition, and Gov. Bill Lee has halted remaining executions and ordered an independent review.
Christa Pike, the Tennessee death row inmate who survived two lethal injection attempts this week, is hospitalized in critical condition, her attorneys said Thursday. The 50-year-old was scheduled to become the first woman executed in Tennessee in more than 200 years, but neither of the two injections administered at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville proved lethal.
«Christa is alive right now,» attorney Randy Spivey told reporters during a Zoom briefing. «She is in critical condition receiving lifesaving care. That is the extent that we have at the moment.» Spivey said he could not provide a prognosis or further medical details because of health privacy rules. He described himself as haunted by the events of the previous night.
Fellow attorney Stephen Ferrell said the needle «either became dislodged or pierced all the way through the veins,» preventing the injection from being properly administered. Witnesses reported that Pike remained awake during the procedure and at one point raised her head to ask prison officials whether her arm was supposed to feel a certain way. She continued breathing even after the second dose was given.
The failed execution prompted Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee to halt the state's remaining scheduled execution this year and order what he described as a comprehensive, third-party review to determine exactly what occurred. The U.S. Supreme Court had earlier overturned an emergency stay of execution, clearing the way for the procedure.
Pike had previously asked for alternative methods of capital punishment, fearing that lethal injection could go wrong. Her requests were denied. Her attorneys did not dispute that the Tennessee Department of Correction honored her request for an all-female execution team, though they declined to discuss specifics.
Pike was 18 in January 1995 when she orchestrated the torture and murder of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer, a classmate and perceived romantic rival. According to court records, Pike, her boyfriend Tadaryl Shipp and a friend named Shadolla Peterson lured Slemmer out by claiming they wanted to go to a music store and retrieve marijuana hidden in a park near their vocational school. Pike then attacked her, and Shipp held her down as she tried to escape.
Phil Keith, who was Knoxville's police chief at the time, said the assailants tortured Slemmer for up to an hour before she died. Pike took a piece of the victim's shattered skull as a trophy and showed it off at school the next day, while Shipp carved pentagrams into Slemmer's chest and face. «Pike was the catalyst,» Keith said. «She was the one that was planning out all the events, the luring, all that.»
Slemmer's mother drove from Florida to Nashville to witness the botched procedure. She has not responded to requests for comment. Spivey said he could not imagine what the experience was like for Slemmer's family or for anyone close to Pike. «This is awful, and this kind of thing should never happen again,» he said.
The case has drawn renewed attention to the practice of lethal injection in the United States, where a long history of executions includes numerous botched procedures. Emergency vehicles were seen leaving Riverbend Maximum Security Institution on Wednesday night after the failed attempt. Pike remains in custody at the facility while receiving treatment at an undisclosed hospital.
6
