Tennessee’s attempt at the Christa Pike execution failed on Wednesday night after two doses of pentobarbital were given, and she was taken to an area hospital, state officials said. One of the people who had waited longest for that night was May Martinez. After three decades of grieving her daughter, she had arranged to travel to Nashville to witness it. Tennessee unable to carry out execution by lethal injection, Christa Pike hospitalized +2
Martinez’s daughter, Colleen Slemmer, was 19 when Pike killed her in Knoxville in 1995. Pike is now 50. For the Slemmer family, Wednesday was supposed to be the end of the story.
A mother’s 31-year wait
Slemmer and Pike were both students at the Knoxville Job Corps Center in Tennessee. Pike reportedly saw Slemmer as a romantic rival for fellow student Tadaryl Shipp, 17. Pike, Shipp and a third student, Shadolla Peterson, led Slemmer to an isolated spot near the University of Tennessee’s agricultural campus. Mom of Christa Pike’s murder victim makes special decision ahead of historic execution +2
Investigators said the attack on Slemmer lasted at least 30 minutes. Prosecutors said Pike cut her with a box cutter and beat her with a large piece of asphalt. Pike then kept a fragment of Slemmer’s skull and showed it to classmates. A timeline of the Christa Pike case +2
In March 1996, a jury found Pike guilty of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder, and she was sentenced to death. The others received much lighter sentences. Shipp got life with the possibility of parole, and Peterson testified against Pike and was given probation. newsnerfox9
Martinez has never softened her view. She told the Daily Mail that Pike deserved no special treatment and accused her of “just playing the system.” She told the New York Times that no one could persuade her that Pike had changed. Her husband, Raul, said in a Facebook post that the couple would be there on the morning of September 30 to see the sentence carried out. Mom of Christa Pike’s murder victim makes special decision ahead of historic execution +2
Strangers helped make the trip possible. A supporter named Casey Walley started an online fundraiser to cover the couple’s travel costs to Nashville, and it raised more than $2,500. Once the goal was met, Walley posted that the Martinezes were overwhelmed by the support. newsnernewsner
A day of reversals in court
The legal fight went to the last hour. Governor Bill Lee denied Pike clemency on Monday, and on Tuesday the U.S. Supreme Court turned down her lawyers’ request to stop the execution. abcnews
Pike was due to die by lethal injection at 10 a.m. on Wednesday. About an hour before that, the federal appeals court voted 2-1 to pause the execution so it could consider whether Pike’s claims of childhood sexual abuse had been fully weighed when she was sentenced. kpicabc7ny
The state went straight to the Supreme Court. The attorney general’s office argued that the last-minute halt had traumatized Slemmer’s family and rewarded delay tactics by Pike’s lawyers. On Wednesday evening, the justices lifted the pause in a two-sentence order with no explanation. Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson dissented. Witnesses had stayed at the Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville while the court considered the case. US Supreme Court allows Tennessee execution of Christa Gail Pike to go forward, overturning a last-minute stay – ABC7 New York +2
What went wrong in the Christa Pike execution chamber
Media witnesses first saw Pike strapped to a gurney when the curtains opened at 7:27 p.m. By 8:26 p.m., a second dose of pentobarbital had been given. kpic
It did not work. Several witnesses said they could hear Pike breathing and snoring loudly after the drugs went in, even after the curtains closed. When witnesses were led out at 8:53 p.m., she was still snoring. Witnesses also said Pike complained several times that her arm hurt and felt close to bursting. abcnewswvlt
Her lawyers told a federal court that she had not lost consciousness and still had a heartbeat. A filing from Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti said Pike had been taken to a hospital for medical care, but gave no details about her condition. NBC NewsCBS News
Pike’s legal team said the state had “once again failed to carry out a lawful execution.” They blamed difficult vein access, blown veins, degraded pentobarbital and a lack of emergency medical care, and called the state’s execution protocol secretive. wkrnkpic
The words “once again” point to a recent case. This was Tennessee’s second failed execution this year. In May, officials called off Tony Carruthers’ lethal injection after the team could not establish IV access. In an August hearing, Pike’s lawyers had argued that a vein condition would make it hard to find a vein for the drugs. kpicwsmv
What happens next
Pike’s attorneys filed an emergency motion in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee to stop the execution. The motion asked for an immediate stay and immediate medical care. CBS Newswsmv
Time is also a factor. The execution order expired at midnight. Earlier on Wednesday, reports noted that if time ran out, the Tennessee Supreme Court would need to set a new execution date. newserabc7ny
Pike’s lawyers have long argued that her case is different. They point to her young age, a history of abuse, and later diagnoses of bipolar disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder. If Tennessee does put her to death, she will be the first woman executed in the state since 1820, and the 19th woman executed in the U.S. since 1976. Tennessee set to execute first woman in more than two centuries +2
As of late Wednesday, Pike’s legal team said she was being treated at a nearby hospital and that they had not been told her condition. The Slemmer family’s 31-year wait is not over. wvlt
