Christa Pike suffers trauma after botched lethal injection

Summarised from 3 outlets · Updated 9 Oct, 13:49 · Archive

Christa Pike is experiencing cognitive difficulties and psychological trauma after surviving two lethal injection attempts in Tennessee on 30 September.

Christa Pike, a death row inmate, regained consciousness on Tuesday after surviving two botched lethal injection attempts on 30 September at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville. She had received two doses of the barbiturate pentobarbital before being hospitalised.

Before her execution, Pike and her legal team had challenged Tennessee's lethal injection protocol, citing the drug's risks and problems in previous cases. In May, another inmate, Tony Carruthers, survived an execution attempt when prison officials struggled to find a vein and punctured him more than a dozen times over an hour. Pike also had vein issues and worried the injection would be painful, saying the drug 'burns very bad'. She requested to be hanged instead, but her request was denied.

Her lawyers now report that Pike is experiencing 'cognitive challenges' with concentration and memory, as well as 'profound psychological trauma' from surviving the execution. 'While her physical recovery has been remarkable, significant questions remain about the long-term effects of what she endured,' they said in a statement.

Pike was sentenced to death for the 1995 murder of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer, a Job Corps classmate, when Pike was 18.

How it is being reported

• 'Absolute torture': Female US inmate in critical condition after botched executionA condemned female murderer who survived two lethal injections during a botched execution by the US state of Tennessee was in critical condition and receiving "life-saving care," according to her attorneys. In an extraordinary chain of events, Christa Pike, 50, was whisked from a prison execution chamber to a hospital, still alive despite two deadly doses of pentobarbital. What happened to Pike is "absolute torture," said Sandrine Ageorges-Skinner, Spokesperson for Together Against the Death Penalty (ECPM), speaking to FRANCE 24's Alison Sargent.France 24 · 9 Oct, 15:03
• Christa Pike suffering ‘cognitive challenges’ and ‘profound psychological trauma’ after botched execution: lawyersChrista Pike is suffering "cognitive challenges" and "profound psychological trauma" after her bungled execution, her lawyers revealed.New York Post · 9 Oct, 13:32
• Christa Pike’s botched execution is a reminder of the horror of the death penalty | Moira DoneganLethal injection was a way for us to deny the reality of capital punishment. Pike’s experience shows us what it is Christa Pike had asked to be hanged. In the weeks before her botched execution by lethal injection on 30 September, in which she survived two lethal doses of barbiturate pentobarbital and had to be hospitalized, Pike and her legal team had challenged Tennessee’s execution protocol. The state’s lethal injection regimen had failed before. In May, Tony Carruthers was also sent to Tennessee’s death chamber, only to leave alive after prison officials struggled to find a vein. Moira…The Guardian · 9 Oct, 11:00

In this story: Christa Pike · Tony Carruthers · Colleen Slemmer · Riverbend Maximum Security Institution · Tennessee · Nashville

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