Christa Pike still breathing after 2 execution drug doses
UPDATE: Pike was transported to a hospital and is receiving medical care, according to a court filing.
Media witnesses to Christa Pike’s execution in Nashville, Tennessee, said she was still breathing when they were told to leave after two rounds of the lethal injection drug pentobarbital. Her status was not immediately clear.
The procedure took place Wednesday evening at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned a lower court’s temporary stay. Reporters described Pike coughing, complaining of pain and moving on the gurney before curtains blocked their view.
Reporter Damon Lawrence of Roma County News said the warden asked Pike for her last words at about 7:26 p.m. Her spiritual adviser was beside her.
“I just want to say that I’m going to leave this world the way I spent most of my life, and that is with love,” she said, according to Lawrence. She said she loved those who were angry with her as much as those who supported her, adding: “I’m at peace and I’m ready to go.”
WPLN health reporter Catherine Sweeney said Pike began coughing at 7:28 p.m. and later lifted her head to look around. WKRN anchor Tori Gessner said Pike complained about her arm at 7:34 p.m.
“My arm feels like it’s about to burst open,” Pike said, according to Gessner. She asked whether the sensation was normal. When her spiritual adviser told her to relax, she replied: “I’m trying.”
Witnesses described continued movement, heavy breathing and loud snoring. A WVLT anchor said Pike kicked her feet, looked toward her left arm and at one point lifted her head and legs off the gurney.
The reporters gave differing times for when the curtains first closed, but several said their view was blocked at 8:05 p.m. They said they could still hear snoring afterward.
WBIR investigative journalist John North said Pike’s breathing was sometimes rhythmic and sometimes appeared labored. Emergency vehicles arrived, but the media witnesses did not know her condition when they left.
Reporter Sweeney said reporters were told to leave at 8:53 p.m., while Pike was still breathing. She said two rounds of pentobarbital had been administered and that the protocol provides for a second round if the person remains alive after the first.
Pike, 50, was sentenced to death for the 1995 murder of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer. Pike and her boyfriend lured Slemmer into the woods, where she was beaten and slashed before Pike crushed her skull with a piece of asphalt.
The execution had initially been scheduled for 10 a.m. Wednesday. The 6th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals issued a temporary stay about an hour beforehand, giving judges time to consider the legal arguments. Tennessee appealed to the Supreme Court, which allowed the execution to proceed.
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Ella Rae Greene, Editor In Chief
