Christa Pike, a convicted murderer on death row in Tennessee, survived two lethal injections late on Wednesday and has been taken to a hospital. The state’s governor, Bill Lee, has suspended all executions for the remainder of the year and ordered a review.
Background of the case
Pike, now 50, was sentenced to death in 1996 at the age of 18 for the murder of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer in 1995. Pike and her then boyfriend, Tadaryl Shipp, killed Slemmer at a job training camp in Knoxville, Tennessee. A satanic symbol had been carved into Slemmer’s chest.
According to the Death Penalty Information Center, the last woman executed in Tennessee was in 1820, meaning Pike would have been the first woman to be executed in the state in more than 200 years.
Failed execution attempts
Pike was given two lethal injections late on Wednesday, but she survived both. Witnesses reported she was still breathing after the second attempt, and some stated she was heard to snore. She has now been taken to the hospital.
The Tennessee department of correction said in a statement: “The lethal injection chemical in the protocol has consistently been effective, and the protocol does not allow for additional procedures beyond what was carried out this evening.”
Earlier this week, Governor Bill Lee denied Pike’s request for clemency. On Wednesday, the execution was temporarily blocked by judges on the sixth circuit court of appeals, but the US supreme court subsequently stepped in to overturn the stay, allowing the execution to proceed.
What’s in a lethal injection?
The substances used in lethal injections vary by state. Most states either use a protocol involving three different drugs – one to sedate the prisoner, one to paralyse their muscles and one to stop their heart – or a single drug. Tennessee uses a single drug: an injection of a barbiturate called pentobarbital.
“Pentobarbital usually takes effect within seconds to minutes of injection,” said Richard Levy, a professor of anesthesiology and pediatrics at the Stanford University School of Medicine. “The intended goal of pentobarbital injection is to render the inmate unconscious and then to induce apnea – cessation of breathing. It is the cessation of breathing that then results in hypoxia – lack of adequate oxygen. Ultimately the heart stops and the prisoner dies,” he said. “However, pentobarbital may not always induce apnea – if dose is not high enough or injection is not successfully injected into a vein – and the inmate may not stop breathing. Without apnea, the injection will likely not result in death.”
Pentobarbital was removed from the federal protocol by the Biden administration over concerns that it could cause unnecessary pain and suffering. It was later reauthorised by the Trump administration.
Possible explanations and next steps
No official explanation has been provided for Pike’s survival. The Tennessee department of correction said in a statement that they “followed every step of the State’s lawful, established execution protocol approved by the Attorney General’s Office”.
Clive Stafford Smith, founder of Reprieve, who has spent 25 years working on behalf of those on death row in the US, told Al Jazeera there were two probable explanations. One, he said, is that the drugs could have been out of date – something he said could arise due to difficulties in acquiring them – while the other is that there may have been difficulties in administering the lethal injections, adding doctors are not involved in the process.
Levy said the case is another botched execution and further evidence that the process of lethal injection needs to be re-evaluated. “The fact that two injections failed indicates that either the doses were too low or they were not injected into her veins,” he said.
At present it is unclear what will happen to Pike, and whether she will be executed at a future date. Lee has halted the state’s remaining executions for the rest of the year and has ordered a “comprehensive, third-party review to determine exactly what occurred”.
“Carrying out a lawfully imposed sentence is among the State’s most serious responsibilities, and the people of Tennessee expect it to be done in a manner that is not only legal and constitutional, but is effective,” Lee said in a statement. Levy said policy needs to change. “Either eliminate lethal injection entirely or engage medical experts to guarantee the product,” he said.
