US convicted murderer Christa Pike is in hospital and being given "life-saving measures" after Tennessee authorities failed in their attempt to execute her by lethal injection. The case of Pike, whose attempted execution had already been the subject of a high-profile legal battle, has raised a number of questions. These include what went went wrong, what happens next, and - for opponents of the death penalty - fresh concerns around the suffering of an inmate when an execution does not go to plan.
Pike, 50, was sentenced to death in 1996 for the murder of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer, an attack that was perpetrated alongside her then-boyfriend Tadaryl Shipp. She was scheduled to be put to death on Wednesday evening, local time. The injections were allowed by the US Supreme Court at the eleventh hour after the legal battle.
Pike was given two syringes of the drug pentobarbital, though her legal team said these failed to stop her heartbeat and that she could still be heard snoring. US death row inmate survives execution attempt after two lethal injections The Tennessee Department of Correction defended the method it used, and said "the protocol does not allow for additional procedures beyond what was carried out this evening". The state protocol does not clearly specify what should happen if an inmate remains alive after a second dose, according to the AP news agency.
Authorities have yet to provide their explanation of why the dosage given to Pike proved to be non-fatal, although medical experts have provided theories of their own. Dr Joel Zivot, a professor at the Emory University School of Medicine who told the BBC he had been retained by Pike's legal team as a medical expert, said she probably never achieved a sufficient blood level of pentobarbital to cause apnoea and cardiovascular failure. The state correction department added that Pike had been taken to an off-site medical facility.
One of her lawyers said she was "being provided life-saving measures" in hospital. Her health status is unclear as of Thursday morning. In his emailed comments to the BBC, Zivot said: "It's very possible that as a consequence of the delay of the beginning of resuscitation she will have a brain injury." A third-party review has been ordered by the state governor, Bill Lee, who also says the year's last remaining execution will not go ahead as planned.
May Martinez, the mother of Colleen Slemmer who had pushed for Pike's execution to take place, told NBC News the events had been "a mess". Opponents of the death penalty have similarly been quick to react. Maya Foa, the chief executive of international legal organisation Reprieve, said: "We cannot know exactly what went wrong, because so much happened behind a curtain – lethal injection relies on secrecy at every stage, to hide the violence of the state taking a human life." Authorities are yet to say whether they will try again to execute Pike.
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