Christa Pike, 50, who was sentenced to death in 1996 for the murder of Colleen Slemmer, was placed on a ventilator and remained unconscious in hospital in the hours following her failed execution in Tennessee, according to a court filing submitted by her attorneys on Friday.
According to her legal team, hospital staff were working to keep Christa Pike alive following the failed execution attempt. As of late Thursday, doctors were reportedly focused on removing the effects of the two doses of pentobarbital administered during the procedure, the same drug Tennessee uses in its executions.
Failure sparks resignation
The failure in Tennessee’s execution chamber on Wednesday has left both sides of the death penalty debate demanding answers. On Saturday, Governor Bill Lee said that the head of Tennessee’s prison system is resigning after the failed execution of Christa Pike.
The latest court filing provides the first detailed update on Christa Pike's condition since she was taken by ambulance from Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville following Wednesday night's failed execution. Her lawyers had previously said she was in critical condition.
IV line complications suspected
The legal team believe complications with the intravenous lines may have caused the pentobarbital to enter Pike's body improperly rather than being delivered directly into her bloodstream as intended during the execution procedure.
"Apparently at no point did any member of the execution team realize that the IV lines were not correctly placed or that the veins had blown and that the pentobarbital was, in whole or in part, entering Ms. Pike’s body," they wrote in the court filing.
Evidence preservation requested
Pike’s attorneys asked a state court to order the Tennessee Department of Correction to preserve all evidence from the failed execution. Two of her attorneys said in a statement: "Preserving this evidence is essential to understanding what happened, ensuring accountability and protecting Christa’s legal rights."
Mr Lee said that Department of Correction Commissioner Frank Strada will step down this month. Issuing a statement on Saturday, the Governor said that stepping aside “is in the best interests” of the state as an independent review is carried out to determine why Pike’s execution failed Wednesday.
Strada said in a statement that resigning was “in the best interest of Tennesseans” while an independent review determines what happened Wednesday when the state failed to execute Pike despite administering two doses of a lethal drug. He said: "I believe this review is entirely appropriate and necessary, and I look forward to doing everything I can to help determine exactly what occurred."
