The mother of Christa Pike's victim has said she nearly took justice into her own hands after watching her daughter's killer survive a botched execution in Tennessee on Wednesday evening.
Pike, 50, was scheduled to be executed for the murder of Colleen Slemmer in January 1995. She was given two doses of lethal injection but remained unresponsive and not in a coma, with her lawyer claiming she was pierced with a needle seven times. Pike was set to become the first woman executed in the state in 200 years.
Failed execution details
In what were meant to be her final words, Pike said: “I’m going to leave this world the way I spent most of my life – and that is with love.” She is still alive and in a critical condition, receiving life-saving medical treatment after surviving two full doses of pentobarbital.
According to witnesses in the execution chamber, the curtains separating Pike from the viewing area were closed at 7.46pm but opened again three minutes later. Witnesses described Pike gasping and moaning as she kicked her bedsheet. One said: "Her mouth fell open a few times, and she began to loudly snore. She gasped a few times."
By 8.26pm, witnesses reported that the second dose of pentobarbital had been administered, but Pike continued to be heard snoring behind the closed curtain until the microphone was cut off at 8.53pm. She was later rushed to a nearby hospital.
Lawyer's response
Pike's lawyer Randy Spivey said on Thursday: "We don't have a sense of her prognosis or much update on her health at the moment." He added: "But we do know that she is alive right now." Her lawyers claim the failed execution amounted to "torture" and called for her death sentence to be commuted. Spivey said: “I’m haunted by last night. What I saw last night is not something that should ever, ever happen again.”
Mother's reaction
Colleen's mother, May, spoke to PEOPLE while driving back to Florida from Tennessee. During the interview, she said she almost took justice into her own hands. May said: "If I could have gotten in that room, I would have taken the box cutter and cut her up like she did Colleen."
Colleen Slemmer was killed at age 19 after being lured into an isolated area on the University of Tennessee agricultural campus. Pike was convicted alongside her boyfriend in 1996, with the court hearing that a pentagram was carved into Slemmer's chest and Pike kept a bit of her skull as a souvenir.
May said she has missed over 30 years of memories: "Well, you miss a lot. You miss the holidays, you miss the birthdays, you miss Mother’s Days and stuff like that." She also said she was informed that Pike is chained to a hospital bed and surrounded by law enforcement at all times. When asked what was on her mind the day after the botched execution, May said: “I want to go kill Christa. How’s that?”
Tennessee Governor Bill Lee has paused all executions in the state and ordered a review into Pike's unprecedented botched execution.
