A botched execution that left a convicted murderer alive has raised fresh questions about what went wrong inside a Tennessee prison, as emergency call recordings reveal confusion among prison staff and emergency responders.
Christa Pike, 50, who was convicted of murdering Colleen Slemmer alongside her then-boyfriend in 1995, received two doses of a lethal injection on September 30. However, when the drugs failed to kill her, she was rushed to hospital for treatment.
According to the Associated Press, which first obtained the audio recordings, the emergency calls exposed an apparent communication breakdown among prison personnel, raising concerns that the confusion may have delayed Pike’s medical treatment.
The BBC has contacted the Tennessee Department of Correction for comment. However, the department has yet to explain what caused the failed execution or identify any lapses in the procedure.
Meanwhile, Pike’s legal team has suggested that the pentobarbital administered to her may have spread beneath her skin instead of entering her bloodstream in a sufficient quantity to cause death.
Pike has since been discharged from hospital and returned to prison. In their latest update on her condition, her legal representatives warned that she faced a long road to recovery. It remains unclear whether she is receiving further medical treatment in custody.
Her survival has placed the case in unprecedented territory, as she is believed to be the only person known to have survived an attempted execution by lethal injection.
The failed procedure has also drawn criticism from Slemmer’s mother, who had campaigned for Pike’s execution and described the outcome as a mess.
Meanwhile, Tadaryl Shipp, Pike’s boyfriend at the time of the murder, remains incarcerated. He was spared the death penalty because he was a minor when the crime was committed.
