Breaking: US woman still alive after lethal injection dose, says legal team
Media witnesses say Christa Pike was still alive when they were ordered to leave the prison by officials.
Christa Pike, a woman on death row in Tennessee, is still alive after receiving two doses of lethal injection, according to her legal team. The execution, scheduled for September 30 at 10am, was delayed due to a last-minute stay from the Supreme Court and was carried out a few hours later. Pike's legal team has confirmed she remains alive more than an hour after the drug was administered.
Witnesses from the execution, held at the Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville, reported an unusual process. They noted the curtain was drawn multiple times and the procedure took longer than usual. Associated Press journalist Kim Chandler, who has witnessed many executions, described Pike as noticeably awake during the execution and exhibiting unusual behavior such as opening her mouth widely and snoring loudly.
The curtain to the execution chamber closed for the final time at 8:06pm, and Pike was heard snoring until media witnesses were escorted out at 8:53pm.
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