Tennessee Death Row Inmate Christa Pike Survives Two Lethal Injections, Condition Critical

02 October, KATHMANDU: Tennessee. Christa Pike, who was given lethal injection twice in Tennessee, USA, is still alive. However, her lawyer said her condition is critical.

Pike, 50, was given two doses of a drug called pentobarbital on Wednesday to be executed. But she did not die even after being given the drug both times. She was then taken to the hospital by ambulance.

According to her lawyer, Randy Spivey, Pike is currently undergoing life-saving treatment in the hospital. He said that nothing can be said at the moment about what will happen to her health in the coming days.

‘She is alive now. But we don’t have much information about her condition,’ Spivey said.

Pike’s lawyers have now demanded that her death sentence be commuted. They said the sentence should be commuted to life imprisonment.

Pike was sentenced to death in 1996 for the murder of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer. Pike was 18 years old at the time. According to the prosecution, she, along with her then-boyfriend Tadaryl Ship, beat and tortured Slemmer before killing her.

Pike’s legal team made efforts in court until the last moment before her execution. But the process was advanced after the US Supreme Court refused to stay the execution.

However, problems arose during the execution itself. According to Pike’s lawyers, staff tried for about an hour to create a path for administering the drug through the vein in her arm. Needles were inserted multiple times during this process.

Pike remained alive even after the first lethal dose was administered. Then, according to state rules, she was given a second dose. But even after that, she was seen breathing, lawyers said.

Following the incident, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee decided to halt all executions in the state this year. He also ordered an independent investigation into the incident.

‘There are many questions. Those questions must be answered,’ Governor Lee said.

However, the Tennessee Department of Corrections claimed that they carried out the execution according to the approved process as per the state law. The department also stated that the drug and procedure used have been effective in the past.

This incident has raised new questions about the execution process in Tennessee. In May this year, Tony Carruthers was also to be executed. But the execution was stopped at the last moment after the vein could not be accessed to administer the drug.

Pike’s lawyers are currently awaiting her health improvement. They said that after she recovers, they will understand her wishes and take further legal action.