The first woman who they had to execute in Tennessee in 200 years survives two lethal injections

BarcelonaChrista Pike, an inmate on death row in Tennessee for a crime she committed in 1995, has survived the two lethal injections administered to execute her and has been transferred to a maximum-security facility in Riverbend, Nashville, to receive medical treatment. "The Tennessee Department of Correction has followed all the steps of the legal execution protocol established by the state," Tennessee authorities stated in a release following the failed attempt. Pike's execution was the first scheduled for a woman in Tennessee in over 200 years.

"The protocol's chemical lethal injection has been consistently effective, and the protocol does not allow for additional procedures beyond what was carried out tonight. Christa Pike has been moved to a medical facility off-site," explained the Tennessee Department of Correction, which defended its handling of the execution.

According to some witnesses, the attempt to execute Pike lasted for at least an hour, during which she suffered heavy gasping, choking, and snoring, and reacted with kicking. After nearly an hour, witnesses were forced to leave the site where the execution of the woman was being attempted.

Christa Pike was sentenced to death in 1996, when she was 18 years old, for the murder of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer, a fellow student at a vocational school in Knoxville. As noted during the trial, Pike and two other youths, including her partner at the time, Tadaryl Shipp, killed Slemmer.

Both the defense and Amnesty International had opposed the death penalty for Pike, arguing that the young woman's history as a victim of childhood sexual abuse and her diagnoses of bipolar disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder were not taken into account. The organization also argued that public defenders did not present enough mitigating evidence regarding the abuse and its psychological consequences.

In the last attempt to obtain clemency, which ended unsuccessfully, Pike alleged that her mental health issues had caused her not to understand "for a long time" the gravity of the events.

Suspended executions in Tennessee

As a consequence of the failed attempt to execute Pike, Tennessee has suspended the executions scheduled for this year. The announcement was made by the governor, Bill Lee, who has also requested an "exhaustive" investigation into the failed execution of Pike.

"Carrying out legally imposed sentences is among the most important responsibilities of the state, and the people of Tennessee expect it to be done in a way that is not only legal and constitutional, but also effective," stated Lee.

Last May, Tennessee officials aborted the attempt to execute a man convicted of murder because they could not find the appropriate vein to administer the lethal injection.