Christa Pike in Critical Condition After Botched Execution, Lawyers Say

Convicted murderer Christa Pike is in a critical condition after surviving a botched execution in Tennessee, her lawyers said on Oct. 1.

“What we have been told is that she is in critical condition, receiving life-saving care. That is the extent that we have at the moment,” Randy Spivey, one of the attorneys, told reporters in a call.

Pike, who was convicted in the 1995 killing of a 19-year-old woman and convicted in 2001 of attempted first-degree murder in the assault of another inmate, was strapped down on Wednesday and given two doses of pentobarbital at a prison in Nashville.

Witnesses said they heard Pike snoring and making other noises following the administration of the drug, and an ambulance eventually transported her elsewhere.

Pike’s lawyers said that they estimated there were 15 to 20 minutes that Pike was suffering in the execution chamber without receiving medical treatment.

“We at this point do not know the ramifications of the chemical tortures that she has endured,” Spivey said. Given Pike’s history, including being sexually abused, “that was cruel and unusual punishment,” he added.

Spivey and Stephen Ferrell, another lawyer representing Pike, said they want to discover what happened.

They said that medical experts had said it would be difficult to access Pike’s veins because of a blood condition she has, and referenced remarks she made in the chamber about her arm feeling like it was going to explode.

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee, a Republican, ordered a halt to all executions in the state through the end of the year.

“The people of Tennessee have determined that capital punishment is the appropriate punishment for the most heinous of crimes,” Lee told reporters in Nashville on Thursday.

Executions have to be carried out legally, constitutionally, and effectively, and that did not happen for Pike, the governor said.

If Pike had been executed, she would have been the first woman to be put to death in Tennessee in more than 200 years.

The Tennessee Department of Corrections said in a brief statement late on Wednesday that it “followed every step of the state’s lawful, established execution protocol approved by the Attorney General’s Office.”

The department, which has not responded to requests for comment, said that Pike was taken to an off-site medical facility.

Pike’s lawyers said they’re hoping Lee commutes her sentence.