Christa Pike's failed execution: Tennessee team struggled to insert IV lines, lawyer says

Members of the Tennessee execution team repeatedly failed to establish functioning intravenous (IV) lines in Christa Pike’s arms during an attempted execution and warned that some of her veins may have ruptured, or ‘blown’, before she was injected with pentobarbital, according to a court document filed by her attorney on Thursday.

Attorney Randy Spivey wrote that the IV team used approximately 10 needles and attempted to establish access at several sites on both arms. The team also struggled to push saline through the final IV line it managed to establish, according to the filing. Pike, 50, was hospitalised after surviving two doses of pentobarbital during Tennessee’s attempt to execute her on September 30. The execution was scheduled in connection with the 1995 stabbing death of her classmate, Colleen Slemmer.

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Pike was 18 at the time of the killing, which she committed with her boyfriend after torturing Slemmer. She later became one of the youngest women sentenced to death. Under Tennessee’s execution protocol, a second dose of pentobarbital is required if the first dose fails to cause death. However, the protocol does not specify what officials should do if a person survives the second injection.

Following the failed execution, Pike was taken to a hospital, where she remained on a ventilator for several days. At one point, her attorneys feared she might not survive. She eventually regained consciousness and returned to prison after being discharged.

Who is Christa Pike?

Christa Pike was sentenced to death for the 1995 murder of Colleen Slemmer, a 19-year-old fellow student at a training programme. Pike was 18 years old when the killing took place. According to court records, she believed Slemmer was trying to steal her boyfriend. Pike’s boyfriend was also convicted for his involvement in the murder and sentenced to life in prison.