US murderer Christa Pike unconscious and on ventilator after failed execution, lawyers say

Tennessee death row inmate Christa Pike, 50, endured a harrowing execution attempt on Wednesday, surviving after being injected with two lethal doses of pentobarbital. Pike, serving a sentence for the 1996 murder of Colleen Slemmer, was subsequently transferred to a hospital in an ambulance where she remains unconscious and intubated on a ventilator.

Her legal team has filed an emergency motion to preserve all evidence related to the failed execution, citing concerns over her health and the risk of unnecessary pain and suffering. During the procedure, prison officials struggled to insert the IV lines, eventually using seven needles. Pike herself provided guidance on where the needles could be inserted.

Throughout the execution attempt, Pike cried, whimpered, and breathed heavily, even stating that her arm felt as if it would burst open. Her lawyers argue that none of the execution team realized the IV lines were improperly placed, resulting in the pentobarbital entering her system.