Tennessee Halts Executions After Inmate Survives Two Lethal Injections
Tennessee Governor Bill Lee announced on Wednesday that executions in the state are being put on hold, following an attempt to put death-row inmate Christa Pike to death by lethal injection that did not succeed.
According to Lee, carrying out a lawfully imposed sentence is one of the most serious duties of the state, and residents of Tennessee expect it to be carried out in a way that is legal, constitutional and effective. He said he has directed a "comprehensive, third-party review to determine exactly what occurred." The governor also indicated that no further execution scheduled in the state will take place this year.
Pike, 50, was still breathing after being given two doses of pentobarbital on Wednesday, according to reports. She is the only woman on Tennessee's death row. She was found guilty of first-degree murder in 1996 in connection with the killing of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer, who worked at a Jobs Corps Center in Knoxville.
Prosecutors alleged that Pike, who was reportedly envious of her then-colleague, persuaded Slemmer to go to an abandoned steam plant close to the University of Tennessee's Institute of Agriculture Campus. There, Pike and her boyfriend at the time, Tadaryl Shipp, attacked, tortured and eventually killed Slemmer. Shipp was 17 years old at the time of the offence and was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole for his role.
Earlier on Wednesday, the Supreme Court cleared the way for Tennessee to proceed with Pike's execution, overturning a ruling from an appeals court issued the same day that had paused it.
In a statement released Wednesday, the Tennessee Department of Correction said it "followed every step" of the state's "lawful, established protocol" for capital punishment, which had been approved by the office of state Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti. The department said the lethal injection chemical used in the protocol has consistently worked and that the protocol does not permit any additional procedures beyond those carried out that evening. It added that Pike was moved to an off-site medical facility.
Lawyers for Pike said she was snoring loudly after the injections and was taken by ambulance to a hospital, according to reports. The attorneys also said they had not been told about her condition.
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