The lawyers for a Tennessee woman who survived an execution attempt told reporters on Thursday that she was still alive and receiving care in critical condition.
Christa Pike, 50, was convicted on first-degree murder and conspiracy charges and sentenced to death in 1996, when she was 20. She was convicted and sentenced for murdering her classmate, Colleen Slemmer, when she was 18, alongside Pike’s then-17-year-old boyfriend, Tadaryl Shipp, who was sentenced to life in prison.
Officials gave Pike, the youngest woman on death row, two lethal injections of pentobarbital on Wednesday evening in a scheduled attempt to execute her, but Pike survived both injections. Pike’s attorney, Randy Spivey, held a press conference on her condition Thursday, calling what she endured “torturous.”
“The state of Tennessee has shown us again that they are not capable of carrying out an execution consistent with basic human dignity,” Spivey said in the update. “Last night was not just inefficient — it was cruel, and it was torturous.”
He told reporters that Pike was receiving “lifesaving medical care.” Spivey also emphasized during the press conference that Pike’s attorneys had made the point throughout the lawsuit that Pike’s underlying medical conditions, including a blood-clotting condition, put her at risk for an unusually drawn-out, cruel execution by lethal injection.
“It was also predictable,” Spivey said of the failed execution. “Christa’s legal team told the state of Tennessee and the court that her medical conditions would cause her to suffer an agonizing death. The state and the court dismiss Christa’s concerns. The governor’s call for an independent review does not go far enough.”
Spivey called on Gov. Bill Lee (R-TN) to commute Christa’s death sentence immediately. Lee ordered an independent review of the failed execution and canceled the rest of the state’s executions scheduled for the year.
“After having endured solitary confinement for more than 20 years and a full attempt to kill her by lethal injection, Christa has endured punishment greater than any other person in the history of the American death penalty,” Spivey said.
Pike and Shipp were convicted of murdering Slemmer torturously using weapons such as a meat cleaver, a box cutter, and a piece of asphalt. Slemmer was found with a satanic symbol carved into her chest. Pike also stole a piece of Slemmer’s skull after the murder.
Although Pike does not deny murdering Slemmer, her attorneys argue that the court system and judge should have taken her age at the time of the murder, her mental illness, and her history of childhood sexual abuse into greater account when sentencing her.
Pike’s execution was supposed to take place at 10 a.m. Wednesday, but the court delayed the execution to consider Pike’s challenge regarding her history of childhood sexual abuse. After the Supreme Court ruled and allowed the execution to take place, with three justices nominated by Democratic presidents dissenting, the botched execution occurred on Wednesday night.