Tennessee Execution Attempt Ends in Botched Lethal Injection
Attorney reveals lethal injection failed due to bent needle and multiple attempts, leading to Pike’s survival.
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Attorney Randy Spivey revealed that the lethal injection attempt on Christa Pike in Tennessee was marred by multiple failed attempts and a bent needle, leading to the execution being halted. According to court documents filed by Spivey, the IV team struggled to insert the needle and tried over 10 different sites on Pike’s arms before finally injecting her with a lethal dose of pentobarbital.
Failed Execution Attempt
Spivey detailed the night of the execution, noting that the team spent nearly an hour trying to find a viable vein. Pike reportedly assisted by advising them to look in her upper arm. However, the team faced difficulties pushing saline through the last IV site, and after multiple attempts, one of the team members speculated the vein may have blown.
Spivey stated that the needle appeared to be severely bent when it was pulled out, and Pike described feeling a burning sensation in her arm before struggling to breathe. Spivey called fellow attorneys at 8:22 p.m. to stop the execution, citing that a third dose of pentobarbital was not authorized under Tennessee’s protocol.
Pike’s Background and Crime
Christa Pike, now 50, was convicted of torturing and murdering Colleen Slemmer over 30 years ago. The crime involved three classmates from the Knoxville Job Corps Center, who lured Slemmer to her death by claiming they wanted to pick up marijuana. They tortured her for nearly an hour, beating, cutting, and gagging her before crushing her skull with broken asphalt. Pike kept a fragment of Slemmer’s skull as a trophy and showed it to classmates before her arrest.
Pike’s legal team has renewed its request for Governor Bill Lee to commute her death sentence to life in prison without parole. She was in critical condition after the botched execution but later regained consciousness and was released from the hospital. She is now back in custody at the Deborah K. Johnson Rehabilitation Center in Nashville.
Source: Breitbart
