Death row killer Christa Pike's question after receiving lethal injections that failed to kill her
One of the witnesses who was left horrified watching Christa Pike’s execution attempt has revealed the question the inmate asked as things began to go wrong.
Pike was due to be executed in Tennessee yesterday (30 September) after the US Supreme Court overturned a last-minute reprieve, clearing the way for her to receive the lethal injection.
The 50-year-old, who has spent three decades on death row, was set to be the first woman put to death in the state for 200 years for the 1995 murder of Colleen Slemmer.
However, the execution did not go as planned, and after receiving two syringes of pentobarbital, Pike was still ‘alive and snoring’.
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She was then rushed to hospital where she began receiving ‘life-saving care’.
In an update this evening, her lawyer Randy Spivey said: “We don't have a sense of her prognosis or much update on her health at the moment.
“But we do know that she is alive right now.”
Members of the media, who were witnesses to the execution attempt, have since shared details about what apparently happened.
WKRN reporter Tori Gessner said nothing appeared ‘normal’ about the execution.
“I’ve witnessed, I believe, five executions in Tennessee,” she said.
“Nothing about today was normal, typical at all.”
Sharing a timeline of the execution, she claimed that at around 7.34pm as officials began to carry out the procedure, Pike allegedly said: “My arm feels like it’s about to burst open.”
Pike appeared to sense something was wrong, as she then reportedly asked: “Does this happen like that?”
Speaking to The New York Times, Spivey said he noticed Pike’s arm ‘turning purple’.
“It is our understanding that there’s some blistering and burning around the sites of the injection right now on her,” he said.
“I don’t want to guess what that means.”
Prior to her scheduled execution, Pike had refused a personalised final meal and shared what were expected to be her final words.
She said: “I’m going to leave this world the way I spent most of my life, and that is with love. I’m at peace, I’m ready to be free. This is a happy day.”
Pike then repeated a message with Reverend Mikey Noechel, in which she said: “May you be at peace. May you be kind and gentle to yourself.”
Tennessee has halted all executions
In a statement, the Tennessee Department of Correction confirmed she'd been taken to an 'off-site medical facility'.
“The Tennessee Department of Correction followed every step of the state’s lawful, established execution protocol approved by the Attorney General’s Office,” the statement said.
“The lethal injection chemical in the protocol has consistently been effective, and the protocol does not allow for additional procedures beyond what was carried out this evening. Christa Pike has been transported to an off-site medical facility.”
Tennessee Governor Bill Lee has since announced that all executions in the state will be paused as a review into what went wrong is carried out.
In a statement, Lee said: “Carrying out a lawfully imposed sentence is among the State’s most serious responsibilities, and the people of Tennessee expect it to be done in a manner that is not only legal and constitutional, but is effective.”
Pike’s failed execution comes just four months after Tennessee failed to execute triple murderer Tony Carruthers, abandoning the attempt after trying for more than an hour to find a vein for the backup IV line, a requirement under state protocol.
Topics: US News, Crime, True Crime
Claire Reid