Tennessee Court Filing Details Medical Difficulties During Christa Pike's Execution Attempt

Tennessee’s lethal injection protocol requires specific medical procedures to be followed, but a new court filing details a chaotic process that preceded the administration of drugs to Christa Pike. Attorney Randy Spivey submitted a document on Thursday that provides the most granular account yet of the events leading up to Pike’s survival of two doses of pentobarbital.

According to the filing, the execution team began attempting to place intravenous lines at 6:34 p.m. on Sept. 30. Spivey wrote that staff used approximately 10 needles and tested multiple sites on both of Pike’s arms. The procedure on her right arm took about six minutes, while the left arm required nearly an hour. During this time, Pike suggested they look in her upper arm for a usable vein.

The filing notes that team members expressed uncertainty about the condition of the veins. At 6:57 p.m., one member stated a vein might be blowing, though two others could not confirm. A later needle was removed in a severely bent state. By 7:07 p.m., a team member declared, 'I think it's blown.' The group concluded at 7:13 p.m. that an IV was successfully placed in her left arm, despite ongoing difficulties pushing saline through the line.

Phone communications started about five minutes after the IV placement. Spivey reported that staff in the adjoining room, responsible for pushing the drug, repeatedly asked the IV team to check Pike’s left arm. It is unclear exactly when the pentobarbital entered the system, but at 7:34 p.m., Pike stated, 'I feel like my arm is about to bust. It burns.' Shortly after speaking with a spiritual adviser, she began making an agitated snoring sound.

Over the next 30 minutes, Pike strained, flinched, and moved her head while appearing to struggle to breathe. Spivey requested to use a phone but was routed through the facility for seven minutes instead of being allowed to use the device in the witness room. At 8:22 p.m., he called fellow attorneys to halt the execution, noting that a third dose is not authorized, and informed the deputy attorney general that Pike required immediate medical care.

The team was told at 8:50 p.m. that an ambulance was en route. About 20 minutes later, staff reported performing life-saving measures. An ambulance arrived at the hospital at 9:14 p.m. Pike, who is now 50, was hospitalized and placed on a ventilator for several days following the attempt.

Pike was convicted in 1995 for the stabbing death of classmate Colleen Slemmer, a crime she committed at age 18. She has since returned to prison after being discharged. The filing is part of a separate legal challenge brought by other death row inmates against the state’s procedures. Kit Thomas, an attorney for those inmates, stated that predictions about botched executions have materialized and will continue to do so without substantial change to the protocol.