Christa Pike’s execution for the 1995 murder of Colleen Slemmer did not reach the end even after Pike was injected with two doses of pentobarbital, according to Kelly Avellino of Fox News.
Curtains were drawn multiple times while Pike reportedly continued showing signs of life, ABC News reported, according to journalists present inside the execution chamber. They also described the execution as unusually prolonged process and that “nothing we saw was normal. Witnesses reported that Pike was still awake 40 minutes after the she was given the dosage.
Pike is now being taken to the hospital, Avellino reported. However, the emergency filing alleged she never lost consciousness completely and continued to have a heartbeat after the drugs were delivered. Pike had been scheduled for execution at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville on September 30. Associated Press reporter Kim Chandler said, “The blinds were closed for the first time to the execution chamber at 7:46pm, they opened again at 7:49pm. According to Chandler the curtain was drawn again at 8:06 pm.
The lawyers requested an immediate halt to the execution and argued Pike required emergency medical treatment. Chandler further added, “Her mouth fell open a few times and she began to loudly snore. She gasped a few times.
Prison staff administered two syringes containing pentobarbital, according to Pike’s attorneys. “She could be heard loudly snoring, clearly very alive, in the chamber until media witnesses were told to leave the area at about 8:53pm,” Chandler said. (This story is being updated)
Her execution was briefly delayed by a last-minute stay before the US Supreme Court cleared it to proceed later that day.
