Tennessee death row inmate Christa Pike remains unconscious and on a ventilator at a Nashville-area hospital after the state’s failed execution attempt, according to an emergency court filing obtained by Fox News.
Pike’s attorneys filed the motion in Davidson County Chancery Court seeking to preserve physical, written and electronic evidence from the September 30 execution attempt.
The filing says Pike remains critically ill, intubated and receiving breathing assistance from a ventilator. Her attorneys said both of her arms were swollen, burned and blistered after the procedure.
The filing says the execution team struggled to establish IV access and used at least 7 needles. Pike allegedly gave guidance on where the team could attempt to place an IV, while one needle was bent at a 90-degree angle when it was removed. The state then administered both sets of prepared pentobarbital syringes, according to the filing.
Pike’s attorneys allege the execution team failed to recognize that the IV lines were not properly placed or that her veins had failed, allowing pentobarbital to enter the surrounding tissue. The filing says a backup set of syringes was prepared and another lethal dose was administered.
The filing also says Pike could be heard crying, whimpering and breathing loudly during the procedure. At one point, she allegedly said, “My arm feels like it’s about to burst open,” and later asked, “Does this happen like that?”
Her attorneys said they had warned the state months before the execution that Pike had small veins, a history of difficult blood draws and needle insertion, thrombocytosis and post-traumatic stress disorder. They argued those conditions created a significant risk that the state would have difficulty properly delivering the lethal drug.
The filing says the state had also been warned that improper delivery of pentobarbital could cause vein damage, leakage into surrounding tissue, serious illness, unnecessary suffering or a prolonged death. Pike’s attorneys said those concerns were dismissed as speculation.
The attorneys also raised concerns about what would happen if an execution failed. They said Pike had previously argued that the state’s execution protocol did not adequately provide for medical care or resuscitation and had called for an independent physician and an intensive-care ambulance to be available.
The filing says 2 syringes of pentobarbital had been prepared at about 8 a.m. before the scheduled execution. After a federal appeals court issued a stay, the syringes sat unused for about 12 hours before the execution was attempted later that night.
Pike was convicted of killing 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer in 1995 and has spent decades on Tennessee’s death row.
Her attorneys are asking the court to require the Tennessee Department of Correction to preserve evidence related to the execution attempt as legal proceedings continue.