Witnesses to what should have been Christa Pike's death have spoken out about how they are "haunted" by the botched execution. The death row convict is currently in critical condition in hospital after two lethal injections carried out by the Tennessee authorities failed.
On Wednesday, the US criminal was unsuccessfully executed, after spending decades on death row. Neither the initial nor backup dose of pentobarbital killed her, the Daily Star reports.
Lawyer's statement and witness accounts
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."
Onlookers say Pike was snoring when the execution chamber's microphone was cut off more than an hour into the attempt. According to attorneys, at least seven needles were used in her left arm alone.
They revealed what occurred should "never happen again" as they witnessed Pike gasp for air in the chamber. They said she was looking around and complaining of a burning sensation.
Legal battle and case background
Her lawyers claim that the botched execution amounted to "torture", and they 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."
Before the execution went wrong, the case of Pike had already been the subject of a high-profile legal battle, with it being delayed just hours before. Pike, 50, was sentenced to death for killing Colleen Slemmer in 1995.
Details of the crime and expert analysis
Slemmer was killed at 19-years-old, after being lured into an isolated area on the University of Tennessee agricultural campus. Pike was convicted alongside her boyfriend in 1996, and the court heard that there was a pentagram carved into Slemmer's chest and Pike showed companions a bit of her skull as a souvenir.
Slemmer's mother May Martinez, who travelled to Tennessee to watch the execution, told NBC News the attempt "was a mess". Dr Joel Zivot, a professor at the Emory University School of Medicine, explained to the BBC Pike probably never achieved a sufficient blood level of pentobarbital to cause her breath to stop or heart failure.
He added: "It's very possible that as a consequence of the delay of the beginning of resuscitation she will have a brain injury."
