Convicted Of Murder, Sentenced To Death, But Still Alive: The Curious Case Of Christa Pike

Christa Pike, a 50-year-old woman, survived two doses of pentobarbital on September 30 at the Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville, Tennessee. Slated to become the first woman to be convicted in the state in over 200 years, Pike received a death sentence for the brutal killing of her classmate Colleen Slemmer in 1995.

During the execution process, the injections did not kill her but left her arms burned and blistered, her lawyers said. She was then rushed to the hospital and put on the ventilator, where the hospital staff cleared the pentobarbital from her system.

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What Her Lawyer Said?

Pike's attorneys have revealed that she is conscious and speaking and is under medical care. Describing the failed execution as unprecedented, her attorney said that she remains handcuffed and shackled to the bed. Her prognosis is still unclear. 

"Christa is alive right now. 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," Randall Spivey, one of Pike's lawyers who attended the execution attempt, said, as quoted by Al Jazeera. 

After the failed execution, her lawyers are stressing to move her death sentence to life in prison. According to them, she had endured what they described as "chemical torture".

Image Credit: Reuters

What Went Wrong With The Execution?

After the Supreme Court's order to proceed with Pike's execution, she was given two doses of lethal sedative pentobarbital. As reported by the Associated Press (AP), Pike appeared awake when the injections were administered. However, the Tennessee authorities have not explained the reasons behind the failed execution to this day. 

Speculating on the reasons, many experts have shared their opinions. Stafford Smith, who has attended several executions in support of clients, suggested two possible reasons for this unprecedented event. The first being that the drugs were probably expired, as has been observed over the past 10 years.

Explaining the other reason, he said, "The other thing about Pike is that, as is very common with people who end up in her situation, they've been through a lot of abuse and drug abuse. So it might have been very hard to find her veins and get a needle into it."

What's Next For Pike?

As of this moment, nothing is certain. While Pike remains in the hospital, her legal team has urged Tennessee Governor Bill Lee to allow her to go back to prison and serve the remainder of her sentence. Meanwhile, after Pike's failed execution, Lee has called for a comprehensive third-party review and paused all state executions for the rest of the year.

Why Was Christa Pike Convicted?

Pike was 18 when she and her boyfriend, Tadaryl Shipp, killed their 19-year-old classmate Slemmer at the Knoxville Job Corps in January 1995. Pike considered Slemmer a romantic rival. In 1996, Christa was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to death. Since her boyfriend was 17 at that time, he received a life sentence with the possibility of parole.