Tennessee death row inmate Christa Pike survives two lethal injections
A Tennessee woman convicted of a murder three decades ago survived two lethal injection doses on Wednesday, marking the state's second failed execution this year. Christa Pike, 50, had been set to become the first woman to be executed in the southern US state in 200 years. The botched execution prompted the state’s governor to halt the one remaining execution for the rest of the year and launch a…
Tennessee officials were unable to execute Christa Pike on Wednesday after administering two doses of a lethal drug. The 1995 murder conviction, which would have made Pike the first woman executed in Tennessee in more than 200 years, was halted due to an appeals court's stay. Her lawyers reported that Pike remained alive and snoring after the attempted lethal injection, and was eventually taken from the prison by ambulance.
Pike's lawyers criticized the execution protocol, citing difficulties in accessing veins, degraded pentobarbital, and a lack of emergency medical care. The US Supreme Court had earlier overturned a stay issued by the 6th Circuit US Court of Appeals, which sought to consider allegations of childhood sexual abuse during sentencing.
This marks the second failed execution in Tennessee this year, following the cancellation of Tony Carruthers' lethal injection in May due to difficulties placing an IV. Since 1976, only 18 women have been executed in the US, accounting for about 1% of all executions.
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