Tennessee Orders Review After Death Row Inmate Survives Execution Attempt

By Andrew Powell (/journals/andrew-powell)

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee halted the state's remaining scheduled execution this year after death row inmate Christa Pike survived an attempted lethal injection Wednesday night, according to court filings from her attorneys. Pike received two doses of lethal injection drugs but remained alive, prompting prison officials to stop the process, per Fox News. Her attorneys said she was later taken to a hospital by ambulance for treatment. "Carrying out a lawfully imposed sentence is among the State's most serious responsibilities," Lee said in a statement. He ordered a "comprehensive, third-party review to determine exactly what occurred." The Tennessee Department of Correction said it followed "every step of the State's lawful, established execution protocol approved by the Attorney General's Office." Witnesses said Pike was secured to a gurney when the curtains to the execution chamber opened at 7:27 p.m. local time. Pike, who was expected to be making her final statement, said she was "at peace." The execution then encountered problems. Pike reportedly remained conscious and raised her head at one point, asking prison officials whether the sensation in her arm was normal. At 8:26 p.m., her attorneys said both syringes containing the lethal chemicals had been administered, yet Pike was still alive. An emergency court filing stated that she "has not lost consciousness and still has a heartbeat." Witnesses were eventually removed from the area at 8:53 p.m., while Pike could reportedly still be heard snoring behind the closed curtain. Tennessee's execution protocol provides for a second set of syringes if an inmate remains alive after the initial drugs are administered. The protocol does not specify what should happen if the inmate survives the second set. The failed execution came hours after the U.S. Supreme Court cleared the way for Tennessee to proceed. The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals had issued a temporary stay earlier Wednesday while considering Pike's legal challenges, but the Supreme Court later vacated that order. Justice Sonia Sotomayor dissented, joined by Justices Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson. Sotomayor argued the appeals court should have been allowed additional time to consider Pike's case before an irreversible action was taken. Pike, 50, was sentenced to death for the 1995 killing of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer, whom Pike knew through a Knoxville-area Job Corps program. Court records say Pike and two others attacked Slemmer after luring her to a park. Pike was 18 at the time of the killing. Her attorneys and supporters have argued that her defense failed to adequately present mitigating evidence, including allegations of untreated bipolar disorder and trauma from domestic violence and sexual assaults. Nearly 25,000 people had signed a petition urging Lee to commute Pike's sentence to life in prison. The two other people involved in Slemmer's death did not receive death sentences. Watch the video below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=00IREqoxi4A