Satanist
death row inmate Christa Pike was being treated at a hospital early
this morning after she was heard 'snoring loudly' after surviving two
doses of lethal injections.
The
convicted killer was given two doses of pentobarbital at Riverbend
Maximum Security Institution in Nashville just before 7.30pm but somehow
survived the attempted execution.
Witnesses in the execution chamber said 'nothing we saw was normal,' and described the process as 'abnormally long'.
Pike
(pictured in court in 2007) was still 'alive and snoring' after she
received both syringes of lethal injection drugs on Wednesday night
She
was convicted at the age of 18 in March 1996 for brutally stabbing and
beating Knoxville Job Corps student Colleen Slemmer (pictured) to death
Emergency responders were seen rushing to Riverbend Maximum Security Institution following the botched execution
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The curtain closed for
the final time at 8:06pm, and she could be heard 'loudly snoring' in
the chamber until media witnesses were told to leave the area at about
8:53pm.
Her lawyers later said in a statement: 'Tonight, the State of Tennessee once again failed to carry out a lawful execution.
'We
take no pleasure in being right, but the concerns raised by Ms Pike
proved to be true: difficult vein access, blown veins, degraded
pentobarbital, no emergency medical care available when things
inevitably go wrong, all under a protocol that remains veiled in
secrecy.'
Robin Maher, the executive director of the Death
Penalty Information Center said: 'This event is the worst we've seen
and unlike any other botched execution in the modern era.'
The
'satanist' was convicted in 1996 of the murder of 19-year-old Colleen
Slemmer, whom she killed in a fit of jealous rage, and was sentenced to
death.
The crime shocked the city of
Knoxville and drew widespread national attention, in part because a
pentagram – a star-shaped emblem linked to Satanism – was carved into
Slemmer's chest, and a portion of her skull was taken as a souvenir of
the carnage.
'Christa is being treated at a nearby hospital,' her lawyers said. 'We have not been informed as to her condition.'
Witnesses said after the
deadly injection, Pike was audibly breathing and moaning as she kicked
her bedsheet while the belt across her chest moved.
The
killer had been scheduled to be executed for the brutal 1995 murder of
Slemmer and would have been the first woman executed in the state of
Tennessee in more than 200 years.
But
the procedure was delayed for hours after the US Court of Appeals for
the Sixth Circuit issued an order staying Pike's execution 'until
further order of this court.' The US Supreme Court overturned the order just before 6pm local time, clearing the way for Pike's execution.
The failed execution attempt comes just four months after Tony Carruthers' execution was called off in Tennessee,
when Department of Corrections officials announced that medical
personnel were unable to establish a backup IV line for Carruthers to be
executed by lethal injection.
The same doctor that oversaw that execution was in charge of Pike's procedure Wednesday night, WVLT reports.
Governor
Bill Lee has since announced he was pausing all executions planned for
this year as he called for a comprehensive review into what went wrong.
'Carrying
out a lawfully imposed sentence is among the State's most serious
responsibilities, and the people of Tennessee expect it to be done in a
manner that is not only legal and constitutional, but is effective,' Lee
said.
'She's alive and snoring,' her attorney Kelley Gleason said in the aftermath.
Officials with the Tennessee Department of Correction said they stand by the actions they took Wednesday night.
'The
Tennessee Department of Correction followed every step of the State's
lawful, established execution protocol approved by the Attorney
General's Office,' department spokesperson Dorinda Carter told The
Tennessean by email.
'The
lethal injection chemical in the protocol has consistently been
effective, and the protocol does not allow for additional procedures
beyond what was carried out this evening,' she noted.
Pike's
attorneys argued at a hearing in Knoxville that her thrombocytosis
could increase clotting and pain during the execution process
The
mishap was just the latest in a string of events that delayed the
enactment of her death sentence, which was originally scheduled for 10am
on Wednesday
But it wasn't until
7.26pm that the curtains into the execution chamber opened and Pike and
her spiritual advisor were seen singing a song before the killer made
her final remarks, media witnesses have described.
Moments later, Pike was heard saying her arm felt like it was about to burst open as she repeatedly kicked her feet.
By 7.46pm prison officials closed the curtain to the media room. They then raised the curtain again three minutes later.
At that time, Pike could be heard loudly snoring, and the curtain was closed again at 8.06pm.
Pike
continued to be heard snoring behind the closed curtain until the
microphone was cut off at about 8.53pm. At that time there was an
announcement to escort media witnesses out of the area.
'We have a lot of questions,' one reporter said at an ensuing news conference. 'And the [Tennessee Department of Corrections] has a lot of answers it needs to provide the public.'
Tori
Gessner, a reporter at WKRN who has witnessed several executions, also
emphasized: 'Nothing about today was normal, typical, at all.'
Amy Harwell has since driven an emergency motion to the Tennessee Supreme Court.
'Ms
Pike has not lost consciousness and still has a heartbeat and is
audibly snoring,' the attorneys wrote in the motion filed in the US
District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee.
Another emergency motion was filed with the US Supreme Court, seeking to immediately halt and stay the execution. Lawyers
claimed in that filing that Pike was in 'unnecessary agony,' and the
botched execution constituted cruel and unusual punishment.
The motion further asserted that the Department of Correction should begin lifesaving measures.
'Failure to provide such care constitutes deliberate indifference to legitimate, serious medical needs,' her lawyers asserted.
Federal
Judge Clifton L Corker has since declared that 'medical personnel have
begun to administer medical care as requested in the motion.'
Media witnesses said they left the execution chamber with a lot of questions
An ambulance is pictured arriving at the Riverbend Maximum Security Institution on Wednesday night
The botched execution comes just four months after Tony Carruthers' execution was called off
Pike's
attorneys have previously argued at an August hearing in Knoxville that
her thrombocytosis could increase clotting and pain during the
execution process.
They also contended at the time that her veins are difficult to access, which could prolong the process and extend Pike's suffering.
State
prosecutors disputed those claims, with hematologist Dr Richard Mansour
testifying that Pike's recent medical history showed her veins were
accessible.
He also noted that medical staff had successfully completed nearly all recent blood draws with just a single needle stick.
In
the end, Senior Judge Mark Ward concluded that the evidence did not
show Pike's veins or blood disorder would create a substantial risk of
severe pain.
Pike
is pictured being escorted from Knox County Criminal Court on March 30,
1996, after being sentenced to death for the murder of Colleen Slemmer
Pike's attorneys had also previously asked for an all-female firing squad to kill her or to be hanged, the New York Post reported.
Having
Pike be restrained and handled by men could retraumatize her because of
past sexual abuse, her lawyers had claimed, noting that she suffers
from post-traumatic stress disorder.
'[Lethal
injection administered by men] will increase the likelihood that an
Eighth Amendment violation will occur,' Ferrell said.
'There is an increased risk of pain and suffering.'
According
to the Cornell Center on the Death Penalty Worldwide, Pike was a victim
of child sexual abuse, multiple rapes and attempted suicide at age 12.
When she was 17, she was allegedly grabbed by a stranger by the side of the road and raped. Police never arrested a suspect.
She killed Colleen Slemmer almost one year to the day after the alleged rape.
Pike (left) was tried in March 1996. The jury swiftly convicted her and sentenced her to death
Pike was assisted by her boyfriend, Tadaryl Shipp (left), and their classmate Shadolla Peterson (right)
She
was convicted at the age of 18 in March 1996 for brutally stabbing and
beating Knoxville Job Corps student Colleen Slemmer to death.
Her
boyfriend, Tadaryl Shipp, and an accomplice, Shadolla Peterson, also
helped lure Slemmer to a wooded area before the couple tortured her to
death.
The pair carved a pentagram
into the teen's chest, and Peterson testified that he saw Pike also
carve something into Slemmer's head, police evidence showed.
Pike also took a piece of her skull as a souvenir, according to investigators.
Slemmer
attempted to run for her life but the couple captured her again and
continued the gruesome torture that lasted about 30 minutes to an hour,
Pike estimated.
Pike and Shipp were
both found guilty of first-degree murder. She was sentenced to death,
and he received a life sentence with the possibility of parole.
Peterson,
then 18, served as a lookout for the couple during the deadly attack
and was granted probation in exchange for her cooperation.
Pike
was scheduled to be the first woman executed in Tennessee in 200 years.
She is pictured attending a virtual court hearing in August
Pike has not denied her guilt, but her attorneys and supporters argued that a death sentence is not appropriate for a crime committed at that age by a teenager with untreated mental illness after a childhood of brutal sexual abuse and neglect.
In
a clemency petition, the lawyers argued that Pike's untreated mental
illness and background made her unable to 'put the brakes on.' She had
told police that she initially only wanted to fight Slemmer but ended up
killing her in the frenzied attack.
'I was a mentally ill 18-year-old kid. It took me numerous years to even realize the gravity of what I'd done. Even more to accept
how many lives I affected. I took the life of someone's child, sister,
friend. It sickens me now to think I had the ability to commit such a
crime,' Pike said in a statement included in her clemency petition.
Assistant
federal defender Stephen Ferrell further argued that more is known
today about adolescent brain development and that Pike's death sentence
is an outlier.
Still, Governor Lee
said he decided not to intervene in the case 'after deliberate
consideration of Christa Gail Pike's request for clemency and after a
thorough review of the case.'
Following the ruling, Pike refused to select a last meal, according to the Tennessee Department of Correction.
Inmates
are typically given $20 to spend on their last meal, according to The
Tennessean. The state still planned to provide Pike with a meal before
the procedure.
