Tennessee inmate Christa Pike taken to hospital after execution drugs fail to kill her
Christa Pike, a Tennessee death row inmate, was taken to hospital after remaining alive following two injections of pentobarbital during an attempted execution, her lawyer says. Her legal team sought an emergency halt, while an expert said the delay before resuscitation could leave her with brain injury; Tennessee has not commented.
The execution proceeded after the US Supreme Court overturned a lower court reprieve, with three liberal justices dissenting over Pike’s pending legal challenges. Pike, 50, was sentenced to death in 1996 for the 1995 murder of Colleen Slemmer, committed when Pike was 18. She is the only woman on Tennessee’s death row; since 1976, 18 women and 1,663 men have been executed in the US.
- Pike was taken to hospital after two lethal injections failed to kill her.
- The Supreme Court had overturned a temporary reprieve.
- Her lawyers say legal challenges to her conviction remain pending.
Both sides, in good faith
The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
Supporters of carrying out the sentence can argue that Pike was convicted of a grave murder and that a death sentence imposed through the courts should be enforced once appeals and legal review have run their course. They may see this as upholding accountability for victims and their families, and maintaining the rule of law rather than allowing further delay after the Supreme Court lifted the reprieve.
The case against
Opponents can argue that the botched execution, in which two injections reportedly failed to kill Pike, raises urgent concerns about unnecessary suffering and the state’s ability to carry out the punishment humanely. They may also contend that proceeding while legal challenges remained pending risks an irreversible injustice, and that the death penalty is not justified even for a grave crime.
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Originally published by BBC World as “US death row inmate Christa Pike taken to hospital after surviving two lethal injections, says lawyer”.