Tennessee death row inmate survives execution attempt after two lethal injections

Story By Staff Reporter

Christa Pike, a Tennessee death row inmate, was rushed to hospital after an attempt to execute her with two lethal injections failed, according to her lawyer.

As the procedure was underway, her legal team filed an emergency motion to stop it, stating that Pike had lost consciousness but still had a heartbeat and could be heard snoring. One of her attorneys said that the 50-year-old was now receiving life-saving treatment in hospital after being given two syringes of pentobarbital.

Pike was sentenced to death in 1996 for the killing of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer. Her execution was the focus of a last-minute legal fight, which ended when the US Supreme Court cleared the way for the injections to proceed.

Pike was 18 when she and her then-boyfriend, Tadaryl Shipp, beat, tortured and killed Slemmer. The two had met her at a job training camp for troubled teenagers.

Slemmer’s mother, May Martinez, was among those who had wanted the execution to go ahead. Speaking after Wednesday evening’s events, she described the attempt as “a mess.”

The attempted execution took place at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville at around 8pm local time (1am GMT on Thursday).

Reporting based on original coverage by BBC and NBC News.