Tennessee death row inmate Christa Pike survived two attempts to execute her by lethal injection, with authorities transferring her to a hospital after her heart continued beating despite receiving two doses of the execution drug pentobarbital.
According to Pike’s attorney, her legal team sought an emergency halt to the execution after she lost consciousness, began audibly snoring but continued to have a heartbeat.
She was subsequently transported to an off-site hospital for emergency medical treatment.
The Tennessee Department of Correction defended its handling of the attempted execution, maintaining that officials followed the state’s approved procedures.
“The Tennessee Department of Correction followed every step of the State’s lawful, established execution protocol approved by the Attorney General’s Office,” department spokesperson Dorinda Carter said.
Carter added that the protocol did not permit officials to undertake additional procedures beyond those already performed.
Dr Joel Zivot, a professor at Emory University School of Medicine, said one possible explanation was that Pike had failed to reach a sufficiently high concentration of pentobarbital in her bloodstream to cause respiratory and cardiovascular failure. He also warned of the possibility of brain injury resulting from any delay in resuscitation.
Robin M. Maher, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center, described the case as “singular and unparalleled,” noting that while executions have previously encountered problems establishing intravenous access, surviving after the execution drugs had been administered presented an extraordinary situation.
The attempted execution followed a late legal battle over Pike’s case. The US Supreme Court cleared the way for the execution on Wednesday after lifting a lower court’s temporary stay.
Pike was 18 when she participated in the 1995 killing of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer at a Knoxville job-training programme. She was subsequently convicted and sentenced to death.
Had the execution been completed, Pike would have become the first woman executed by Tennessee in more than two centuries.