Tennessee Inmate Christa Pike Unconscious After Botched Execution, Lawyers Say
An attempt to carry out the death sentence of US inmate Christa Pike in Tennessee failed, leaving her unconscious on a ventilator in hospital. The governor has ordered an independent review and paused all executions in the state through the year.
Christa Pike, a convicted murderer in Tennessee, is unconscious and on a ventilator in hospital after prison officials failed to properly carry out her execution, her lawyers say. Hospital staff are now working to save her life and clear the lethal drug, pentobarbital, from her system.
On Friday, Pike's lawyers filed an emergency motion asking the court to preserve all evidence related to the botched execution. According to the filing, officials used at least seven needles while attempting to start intravenous lines, with one needle found bent at a 90-degree angle upon removal. At one point, Pike herself reportedly offered guidance on where staff could try next. Her lawyers say she could be heard crying, whimpering and breathing loudly while the two doses were administered.
Tennessee Governor Bill Lee has ordered an independent review of the incident and suspended all executions in the state for the remainder of the year. The state's department of correction has defended its procedures, stating that the protocol does not allow for steps beyond what was carried out.
Authorities have not explained what went wrong or said whether they intend to attempt the execution again. Pike's attorneys had previously warned that her thrombocytosis, a blood-clotting condition, combined with small veins, put her at risk of unnecessary pain during lethal injection. In the latest filing, lawyers allege that no member of the execution team realised the IV lines were not properly placed or that veins had ruptured, meaning the pentobarbital may not have fully entered her bloodstream.
Dr Joel Zivot, an anaesthesiologist advising Pike's defence team, said the two administered doses should have been fatal if they had entered general circulation. He said the most likely explanation for her survival is that the drug spread into tissue beneath the skin rather than into a vein, with blisters on her arm supporting this theory. Her blood-clotting condition may also have contributed by forming clots that blocked the drug's path into her bloodstream.
