💉 CHRISTA PIKE STILL ALIVE AFTER TWO LETHAL-INJECTION SYRINGES, LAWYERS SAY

730 BOOM RADIO | BREAKING NEWS

NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE 💥 What was supposed to be an execution Wednesday night turned into a medical and legal emergency after Christa Gail Pike remained alive following the administration of two syringes of the lethal-injection drug pentobarbital, according to her attorneys and media witnesses. CBS News

Pike, 50, has spent roughly three decades on Tennessee's death row for the 1995 killing of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer. Pike was 18 at the time of the crime. Had the execution been completed, she would have been the first woman executed by Tennessee in more than 200 years. Reuters

WHAT HAPPENED INSIDE THE DEATH CHAMBER?

According to an emergency court filing from Pike's attorneys, both syringes of pentobarbital were administered, but Pike remained alive.

Media witnesses described an execution that appeared to go dramatically off course. They reported Pike continued breathing, moving and making sounds. One witness said she complained about pain in her arm during the procedure. Her attorneys subsequently told the court she still had a heartbeat and was audibly snoring. CBS News

The curtains separating witnesses from the execution chamber were also closed during portions of the procedure.

And here's the part that made this situation even more extraordinary:

More than 40 minutes after the final injection, witnesses said Pike was still alive. CBS News

Her attorneys immediately sought court intervention and requested medical treatment.

Pike was ultimately transported from Riverbend Maximum Security Institution to an off-site medical facility. Her precise medical condition was not immediately disclosed. Sky News

TENNESSEE SAYS IT FOLLOWED ITS PROTOCOL

The Tennessee Department of Correction said it followed every step of the state's approved execution protocol and stated that the protocol did not authorize additional procedures beyond what officials had already performed. Reuters

Pike's attorneys sharply dispute the adequacy of that process. They had previously raised concerns about Tennessee's lethal-injection procedures, and after Wednesday night's events they argued those concerns had materialized. CBS News

THIS EXECUTION ALMOST DIDN'T HAPPEN AT ALL

The night followed hours of courtroom drama.

The Sixth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals initially halted Pike's execution, but the U.S. Supreme Court later lifted that stay, allowing Tennessee to proceed. People.com

Then came something nobody expected:

The state administered the drugs, but the execution was not completed.

Whatever anybody thinks about the death penalty or Pike's crime, this raises a major question that Tennessee officials will now have to answer:

What exactly happened inside that execution chamber?

For the family of Colleen Slemmer, the failed attempt also means a case dating back more than 30 years remains unresolved in yet another painful and extraordinary way.

This is a developing story.

730 BOOM RADIO

IT HITS DIFFERENT. EVERY TIME. BOOM! 💥