Tennessee inmate survived two lethal doses after IV team struggles

Christa Pike survived two doses of pentobarbital because the state's execution team struggled to insert intravenous lines into her arms.

Attorney Randy Spivey filed a court document on Thursday detailing the Sept. 30 event. He stated the team used approximately 10 needles to find working veins. The process began at 6:34 p.m. and took nearly an hour to complete the second line on Pike's left arm. The team voiced doubts throughout the procedure, with one member stating a vein "might be blowing" at 6:57 p.m. Another member said, "I think it's blown," at 7:07 p.m. before declaring an IV successfully placed at 7:13 p.m.

Pike, 50, was convicted in 1995 for the stabbing death of classmate Colleen Slemmer. She was 18 at the time of the crime and became one of the youngest women sentenced to death in Tennessee. The state's protocol requires a second dose of pentobarbital if the first does not cause death. The rules do not specify a procedure for inmates who survive the second injection. After the attempt, Pike was placed on a ventilator for several days. Her lawyers initially feared she would not survive. She regained consciousness and has returned to prison since her hospital discharge.

The filing is part of a separate legal challenge to Tennessee's lethal injection methods. Kit Thomas, an attorney for other death row inmates, commented on the event. He said, "Our predictions about the likelihood of botched executions have come true, and will continue to come true, without substantial change."

Spivey described Pike as "wincing and grimacing" while the team worked on her left arm. She helped by suggesting the team look in her upper arm for a usable vein. Once the lines were set, team members in an adjoining room appeared to ask the IV team to check her left arm repeatedly. At 7:34 p.m., Pike said, "I feel like my arm is about to bust. It burns." She later began making an "agitated snoring sound" after speaking with a spiritual adviser.

For the next 30 minutes, Pike strained, flinched, and moved her head. Spivey was denied use of a phone in the witness room and was instead led on a seven-minute route to call colleagues at 8:22 p.m. He requested the execution be stopped, noting that a third dose is not authorized. He also told the deputy attorney general that Pike needed immediate medical care. An ambulance was reported on the way at 8:50 p.m. and arrived at the hospital at 9:14 p.m., where medical staff performed life-saving measures.

The execution team's difficulty in establishing IV lines and their warnings about ruptured veins formed the core of the new legal evidence. The state has not yet responded to the specific details in the filing regarding the saline push and the bent needle. Pike remains in the custody of the Tennessee Department of Correction following her recovery.