US inmate Christa Pike is critically ill in hospital after two lethal injections failed to end her life, her lawyer said. Pike, 50, was sentenced to death in 1996 for the 1995 murder of Colleen Slemmer. Governor Bill Lee has suspended all executions for the year.
The failed execution of Christa Pike has raised questions about the state's lethal injection protocols and has led to a suspension of all executions in Tennessee for the remainder of the year, impacting the state's justice system and the future of capital punishment.
US murderer Christa Pike remains critically ill in hospital and her prognosis is still unclear following a failed execution attempt, her lawyer said on Sunday.
Pike's lawyer, Stephen Ferrell, told CNN on Sunday morning that doctors were still trying to clear two doses of pentobarbital from her body. Pike, 50, was sentenced to death following her conviction for murdering Colleen Slemmer in 1995. She survived two execution attempts on Wednesday and was transferred to a hospital in Nashville, Tennessee.
"She's still in the hospital, on a ventilator, critically ill, we really don't know the prognosis yet, and may not know for several days," Ferrell said. He added that he has been receiving updates through her medical power of attorney rather than consulting directly with doctors and has not seen her.
Authorities have not yet stated whether they will attempt to execute Pike again or offered an explanation for the failed attempts. However, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee suspended all executions for the rest of the year, and the head of prisons in the state resigned on Saturday.
Ferrell expressed concern about Pike's potential recovery and competence, noting that discussions about her future have not yet occurred with the Tennessee attorney general's office. He called on the governor to commute her death sentence to a life sentence, citing her "torturous attempt at executing her" and over 30 years in prison, much of it in solitary confinement.
Pike was 18 when she and her then-boyfriend, Tadaryl Shipp, killed 19-year-old Slemmer. She was sentenced to death the following year. Slemmer's mother, May Martinez, who supported Pike's death sentence, expressed disappointment that the execution was unsuccessful and stated the state owes her an apology.
The state's Department of Correction defended the use of lethal injections, asserting that the protocol does not allow for additional procedures beyond what was carried out. Pike's lawyers had previously warned that her medical history, including a blood-clotting condition and small veins, posed a risk of unnecessary pain and suffering during a lethal injection.
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