Republican Senator Marsha Blackburn has promised to bring back the electric chair if she wins her bid to become Tennessee's next governor in November, following the botched lethal injection of death row killer Christa Pike. The 50-year-old survived two doses of the lethal injection, an incident Blackburn said "should not be grounds to halt" the death penalty.
Execution Paused After Pike Survives
Outgoing state governor Bill Lee paused all upcoming executions after Pike's survival last Wednesday. Pike, sentenced to death in 1996 for the murder of classmate Colleen Slemmer, was rushed to hospital after the failed execution. Her lawyers initially feared she was brain dead after being put on ventilator support, but she woke up in her ICU bed and began talking on Tuesday.
Blackburn insists the mistake means it is time to switch methods. "While there should be a thorough review of what happened and why the process failed, the answer is simple: bring back the electric chair and deliver justice for these victims swiftly," she said. "As your governor I will do just that."
Blackburn Points to Florida's Record
The senator added: "If it's lethal injection, if it is electric chair, what we do know is we have to find a way to do this - and do it successfully." Pointing to rival states, she said: "You look at Florida; they've had 19 executions this year. Not one of them has been botched."
Under Tennessee law, convicts sentenced for crimes before January 1, 1999, are allowed to choose electrocution over lethal injection by signing a waiver. The electric chair can also be used if lethal injection drugs are unavailable.
Opponent Calls for Halt
Blackburn's stance contrasts with her Democrat opponent Jerri Green, who has demanded a complete halt on all future state executions. It remains uncertain whether Pike will face the execution chamber a second time. Her attorney, Stephen Ferrell, is demanding her sentence be commuted following the botched attempt. "The least that could happen now is that we at least take death off the table and start looking for what the future could be for her," he told CBS.
Pike was handed the death sentence after luring Slemmer into an isolated area near the University of Tennessee campus in Knoxville alongside her then-boyfriend Tadaryl Shipp. The victim was tortured with a box cutter, with a pentagram carved into her chest while she was still alive. Pike was 18 at the time, while 17-year-old Shipp received a life sentence plus 25 years with the possibility of parole. Pike was later diagnosed with bipolar disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder, claiming she was a "mentally ill 18-year-old kid" at the time of the murder.
