Recordings of 911 calls have revealed the chaos that followed the failed execution of Christa Pike, who survived two doses of the lethal injection. The killer, sentenced to death in 1995 for the murder of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer, was administered pentobarbital on September 30 but remained alive.
Failed Execution and Delayed Medical Help
Dispatch recordings show that medical help for Pike was delayed because first responders did not believe she had survived. Vital minutes elapsed as officials struggled to verify whether a request for emergency help from inside the execution chamber was genuine.
Pike's lawyer, Kelly Gleason, personally dialed 911 at 9.08pm after initial reports from the prison were deemed a false alarm. She said on the call: "My client, Christa Gail Pike, is undergoing a state execution. She has completed the stages of the protocol and last we knew from the attorney who is present, she is still alive and breathing and needs immediate life-saving care."
Confusion Among Responders
Emergency services were first contacted at 8.40pm, just over an hour after the attempted lethal injection began, but the caller was unable to provide a code to verify the legitimacy of the request. The caller, whose name and title has been redacted, told 911 that they were at the Riverbend Maximum Security Institution where an execution had failed, with Pike still alive.
The dispatcher said at 9.03pm: "Per supervisors here at the DEC (Department of Emergency Communications) we have been informed it is a false call. There is no medical assistance needed at Riverbend Prison." Representatives of the prison's Central Control said they "did not make that call" to emergency services, according to a recording at 9.07pm.
Resolution and Aftermath
At the same time, another first responder could be heard over the radio saying: "Somebody is outside the gate at the prison telling us that it's real and demanding us to go in. They say they are some sort of state official. I need somebody to get out to the gate and talk to those people." Then, at around 9.11pm, prison officials confirmed to medics it was legitimate and permitted responders through the gates, with Pike taken to hospital.
The Nashville Department of Emergency Communications released the batch of audio recordings from dispatchers. Cops said the first recording of the 911 call was exempt from public disclosure under state law. Pike was then put on a ventilator. Her lawyers said they did not expect her to survive, but she woke up and was discharged from hospital on October 10 and returned to prison.
It remains unclear whether the state will attempt to execute Pike again. The Tennessee Department of Correction has not established what went wrong with the execution, and Governor Bill Lee has paused further executions pending a review. Medics have offered a few possible explanations as to how Pike survived, including potential drug quality issues and the placement of IV lines causing the drug to pool in her tissue. Pike's attorney told officials that she had a blood disorder that could cause clotting at injection sites.
