Tennessee Postpones Pike Execution After Failed Attempt

Christa Pike, 50, remained alive in critical condition on life-saving care after Tennessee administered two maximum-protocol doses of pentobarbital on Sept. 30 and abandoned the execution. Her attorneys said staff used at least seven needles in her left arm alone trying to set an IV. Witnesses reported she snored after a second dose at 8:26 p.m.; the microphone cut off at 8:53 p.m. and an ambulance left with lights flashing. The U.S. Supreme Court had lifted an appeals-court stay shortly before. Pike was sentenced for killing Colleen Slemmer in 1995 at age 18 and would have been Tennessee's first woman executed in more than 200 years. Randy Spivey called the attempt cruel and torturous and urged Gov. Bill Lee to commute her sentence. Steve Farrell said experts warned her blood condition made a line unstable. Lawyers cited blown veins, degraded pentobarbital and a veiled protocol. Robin Maher said the event was unlike any other botched execution in the modern era. The Tennessee Department of Correction said it followed its established protocol. Lee called the incident deeply disturbing, ordered an independent review and postponed the execution indefinitely. Why she survived remains unclear; the state had not said if it would try again.