Death Row killer Christa Pike may have brain damage after she was administered two lethal injections during a failed execution in Tennessee. The 50-year-old, sentenced to death for murder when she was 18, was hospitalised on Thursday following the botched procedure, her lawyers said.
Witnesses describe failed execution
Pike was "very clearly alive and snoring" after the blinds of the execution chamber closed for the final time, said Kim Chandler, a media witness with Associated Press. Pike "could be heard loudly snoring, clearly very alive in the chamber until media witnesses were told to leave the area."
Onlookers reportedly heard Pike complain about pain and a "burning" in her arm, and she was repeatedly kicking her feet. She was also reported to have said: "My arm feels like it’s about to burst open. Does this happen like that?"
Medical concerns raised
Dr Joel Zivot, a professor at the Emory University School of Medicine, told the BBC he believes doctors didn’t act quick enough to ensure Pike didn't suffer permanent injury. He said: "It’s very possible that as a consequence of the delay of the beginning of resuscitation she will have a brain injury." Dr Zivot was working alongside Pike’s legal team in the lead up to her planned execution.
Pike lost consciousness after the second syringe full of pentobarbital was given to her, but she was clearly still alive. Her current condition hasn't been confirmed.
State halts executions
The event reportedly marks the state's second failed execution in months, prompting it to halt capital punishment this year. Pike, 50, was set to become the first woman to be executed in Tennessee in 200 years on Wednesday.
Robin Maher, the executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center, told the New York Times: "This event is the worst we’ve seen and unlike any other botched execution in the modern era. There is no precedent."
The Tennessee Department of Correction said it "followed every step of the state’s lawful, established execution protocol", adding that Pike was subsequently taken to an "off-site medical facility" after the blunder. Pike's lawyers said she was taken to a local hospital but haven't been informed of her condition. They said in a statement: "Tonight the State of Tennessee once again failed to carry out a lawful execution."
Background and next steps
Independent UN rights experts have urged the US government and Tennessee authorities to "immediately halt" the execution and commute her death sentence, reports AFP. Pike's lawyers argued that she was mentally ill when the murder took place. She was 18 when she and her boyfriend beat and killed Colleen Slemmer, 19, at a job training camp for young people.
Slemmer’s body was found with a pentagram carved in her chest. Pike’s lawyers tried to get her clemency due to her young age and mental health issues at the time. The US Supreme Court rejected an application for a stay of execution, which argued Pike’s history as a victim of sexual assault, post-traumatic stress disorder and a blood condition meant a lethal injection would cause "needless suffering".
Governor Bill Lee has called for a "comprehensive, third-party review" into the failed execution. He said: "The remaining scheduled execution will not be carried out this year." This refers to the execution of convicted killer Gary Wayne Sutton, scheduled for December 3. Tennessee also halted the execution by lethal injection of Tony Carruthers back in May after medical staff were unable to tap a vein.
