Christa Pike’s Failed Execution

The Debra K. Johnson Rehabilitation Center. Photo by Prison Insight via Flickr.

Murderer Christa Pike was sentenced to death over two decades ago; now, with two failed administrations of her capital punishment, the ethics and cultural significance of capital punishment are brought into public view.

Fifty-year-old Christa Pike was sentenced to death after her 1995 torture and killing of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer. Pike, her boyfriend Tadaryl Shipp and her friend Shadolla Peterson lured Slemmer into the woods where Pike and Shipp then carved into her stomach with a box cutter, kicked her repeatedly, carved a pentagram onto her chest and finally bludgeoned her to death with a rock.

Pike is the only woman serving a death row sentence in Tennessee and has been awaiting execution since her sentencing in 1996. In Tennessee, lethal injection is the primary method used to carry out capital punishment. More specifically, a one-drug lethal injection called pentobarbital.

Pentobarbital is a barbiturate, or a type of drug that depresses one's central nervous system. It is administered in a 5-gram dose and was given to Pike twice as per Tennessee law. Pike’s attorneys said that her executioners had difficulty finding her vein and an emergency motion showed at least seven needles were used to try and gain access. 

Multiple witnesses of the execution claim that they heard Pike breathing and snoring very loudly after the drugs were administered. As of Oct. 6, Pike’s attorneys announced that she was awake and speaking after being in a coma since Sept. 30. 

Pike’s arms were reportedly burned, swollen and blistered upon arrival to the hospital. She has a long road to recovery ahead of her and is suffering from pneumonia and currently has lost function of her arms. 

“Although lethal injection was intended to be a more ‘humane’ and less barbaric method of execution, we repeatedly see cases of botched executions,” said Dr. Vanessa Lynn, Marist University assistant professor for the School of Social and Behavioral Scientists. “[This raises] serious concerns about the effectiveness and ethics of this process, as it sometimes results in prolonged suffering for the condemned.”

There is uncertainty surrounding next legal steps as Pike is the first person to survive after receiving lethal injection drugs according to the Death Penalty Information Center. 

Presently, there are no guarantees that Pike will not be put back on death row. Even if that were the case, however, executions in Tennessee have been paused for the rest of the year by Gov. Bill Lee while investigations are underway. Pike’s attorneys are also in the process of getting evidence from this execution preserved to use for challenges Pike might have to raise in the future.

This all brings about concerns on both the ethics and efficacy of the death penalty. The Eighth Amendment protects against cruel and unusual punishment, leaving many wondering if there really is such thing as a “humane” execution when even lethal injection can go wrong and cause prolonged suffering on the scale we see with Pike.