In case you missed it, on Wednesday, 50-year-old Christa Pike was set to be put to death by the state of Tennessee — punishment for the 1995 torture and murder of a classmate. Pike was just 18 at the time. Years later, while in prison, she was also convicted of the attempted murder of one of her fellow inmates.
Pike survived two rounds of (supposed) lethal injections of pentobarbital and was eventually taken to a local hospital. Now, her lawyers are sharing a little bit more about her condition as part of a Friday court filing.
They say Pike is critically ill — unconscious, intubated, and on a ventilator in a Nashville-area hospital after the medical staff attempted to save her life after the botched execution. Her attorneys also noted that both of her arms were swollen, burned, and blistered when she arrived at the hospital and that staff was working to "clear the pentobarbital from her system."
According to the New York Times, "The disclosure about Ms. Pike’s condition was part of an emergency request from her lawyers, asking a Nashville judge to order the preservation of state prison records related to her execution. The records were, they wrote, evidence of 'incompetent and reckless actions.'"
In a statement to TMZ, her lawyers said, "We are working closely with those closest to Christa to respect her wishes, safeguard her privacy and protect her rights as a patient during this extraordinarily difficult time. We ask that the public and the media respect that privacy as well."
I realize there are a lot of legal issues involved here, and I'll keep my opinions on the death penalty to myself, but it blows my mind to think how much taxpayer money has gone into keeping this woman alive for over 30 years after she committed the most heinous of crimes, then putting her to death, and now, apparently, keeping her alive again.
As I reported on Thursday, Pike was given two doses of pentobarbital on the evening of September 30, after the U.S. Supreme Court lifted a Sixth Circuit stay, making her the first woman to face execution in Tennessee in over two centuries.
Witnesses noted that after the second round of drugs, she was still breathing and snoring. According to the filing, she also cried and whimpered throughout the procedure, said her arm felt like it was about to burst open, and asked whether that was supposed to happen.
The team that administered the IV apparently used at least seven needles, and at one point, she even told them where to go into her skin. One of the needles was bent at a 90-degree angle when it was removed. It reportedly took them an hour to establish the IV.
This is why her lawyers believe that extravasation is the reason why the injection didn't kill her. They theorize that lines were never correctly placed, the veins blew, and the drug leaked into tissue instead of the bloodstream. They say that rather than correct it the first time, they went ahead with the second dose.
The Department of Correction has said it followed the protocol approved by the attorney general’s office. But beyond the second dose, there is no protocol. No one has issued an official statement about what actually went wrong, though the state's governor has ordered an investigation and halted any remaining executions for 2026.
Upon learning this, my first thought was "pull the plug." But that warrant was for lethal injection under a written protocol, a protocol that ended after the second dose. I have a feeling this case will be in the news for a while and possibly forever impact the way the death penalty is carried out in the country. We'll keep you updated.