Key facts
- 911 calls released by Tennessee authorities show confusion during Christa Pike's execution.
- Pike received two doses of pentobarbital before medical assistance was provided.
- Emergency services were delayed in entering the prison due to a lack of a "code" and initial doubts about the call's legitimacy.
- Pike was taken to the hospital in critical condition and has since returned to prison.
- Pike was sentenced to death in 1996 for the 1995 murder of classmate Colleen Slemmer.
Recordings of 911 calls released by Tennessee authorities reveal significant confusion and delays in emergency response during the botched execution of Christa Pike on September 30. Pike, 50, was administered two doses of the lethal injection drug pentobarbital before being rushed to the hospital in critical condition. She has since been released from the hospital and returned to a state women's prison.
In the initial 911 call at 8:40 p.m. CT, an unidentified caller from the Riverbend Maximum Security Institution stated they were carrying out an execution and had administered 10 grams of pentobarbital, but the person was not yet deceased. The caller requested an ambulance, noting Pike's breathing was "very labored." However, the caller did not possess a "code" that would have allowed ambulances onto prison property without a police escort, leading to confusion for emergency personnel.
A second call was made to the Tennessee Department of Corrections (TDOC) Central Control to verify the need for an ambulance. Around 9 p.m. CT, a TDOC employee told the dispatcher that no one from their facility had called them, and later, an individual stated the initial call was "false" and no medical assistance was needed. This contradicted reports from responders outside the prison gate who were told the call was legitimate and demanded entry.
More confusion ensued when Pike's attorney, Kelly Gleason, called 911 at 9:08 p.m. CT requesting "immediate life-saving care." Shortly after, an emergency communications center employee contacted Tennessee Highway Patrol dispatch to request a trooper's presence so that EMS personnel could enter the prison, as they were unable to gain access without an officer on scene, despite being told by someone at the gate that the situation was real.
Ambulances finally arrived at the prison at 9:10 p.m. CT, and by 9:11 p.m. CT, prison officials affirmed the call for help was legitimate. Pike, who has been on death row for 30 years, was sentenced to death in 1996 for the 1995 murder of her classmate Colleen Slemmer when Pike was 18 years old. She is reportedly the first person to have survived lethal injection after being given medications.