Christa Pike: Everything we know as killer left unconscious and on ventilator

Christa Pike: Everything we know as killer left unconscious and on ventilator Questions are mounting over what went wrong during Christa Pike's execution and how she survived after the lethal drugs were administered. Here's everything we know about her extraordinary failed execution Christa Pike survived two lethal injections in a botched execution attempt that left her fighting for her life in hospital. The US convicted murderer was set to be executed on Wednesday evening for the brutal murder of Colleen Slemmer, 19, in 1995 and would have become the first woman to be executed in Tennessee in more than 200 years. She spent almost three decades facing execution for the horrific killing, known as the ‘Satanic Panic Murder’, which saw Pike and her boyfriend, Tadaryl Shipp, torture Colleen. The pair carved a pentagram into the teen’s chest, while Pike also took a piece of her skull as a souvenir, according to investigators. Pike remains hospitalised, unconscious and on a ventilator following her failed execution, her lawyers have said in a court filing. As of late Thursday, hospital staff were working to save her life and clear the two doses of the lethal drugs administered from her system. But the failed execution has since been described as the worst the US has seen - here’s what we know so far. What went wrong during the failed execution? The problems began before the lethal drugs were administered, as officials used at least seven needles in a bid to find suitable veins. Pike’s lawyers had previously warned she suffered from thrombocytosis and had “small veins that make insertion of a needle more difficult”. Her attorney Stephen Ferrell later said: “We knew this was coming.” But the execution went ahead and Pike was given two doses of pentobarbital, witnesses said she was heard crying, gasping and breathing loudly as her right arm turned purple. One said: "Her mouth fell open a few times, and she began to loudly snore. She gasped a few times." The death row prisoner reportedly complained: “My arm feels like it’s about to burst open.” She begun to snore despite receiving the drugs, with neither dose stopping her heart. How did two lethal injections fail to kill her? Pike’s lawyers believe the IV lines were incorrectly positioned or her veins had “blown”, meaning the pentobarbital may have entered the surrounding tissue rather than properly reaching her bloodstream. Dr Joel Zivot, an anaesthesiologist advising Pike’s defence team, said she had received enough of the drug that, had it entered her bloodstream normally, “she would have surely died”. He said the “only possible explanation” for her survival was that the level of pentobarbital in her blood “was never high enough to cause death”. Blistering on Pike’s arm following the procedure was also said to indicate a ruptured vein as well as her thrombocytosis may have played a role, with blood clots potentially blocking the drug from entering her veins. Another possibility raised is that the pentobarbital had degraded, which Zivot said could result from factors including poor manufacturing or improper storage. The Tennessee Department of Correction has defended its handling of the execution, saying its protocol “does not allow for additional procedures beyond what was carried out”. Robin Maher, Executive Director at Death Penalty Information Centre said: “This failed attempt is the worst we’ve ever seen and unlike any other botched execution in the modern era “What happened to Christa Pike can be attributed to the extreme secrecy Tennessee officials have maintained about their execution procedures, their refusal to answer reasonable questions and their unwillingness to accept responsibility for their mistakes.” Victim’s mum’s fury after Pike survived execution Colleen’s mum had waited more than three decades to see her daughter’s killer executed - only to watch the attempt fail. May Martinez and her husband Raul made an 11-hour drive from their Florida home to Nashville, Tennessee, believing they would finally see Pike put to death. The couple arrived at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution at 8.30am on September 30 and were placed in a viewing room, where May said they remained for the next 12 hours. The execution had initially been expected at 10am but was delayed as judges considered an emergency bid by Pike’s lawyers to halt it. Speaking of the depth of her anger over the ordeal. She told PEOPLE: “If I could have gotten in that room, I would have taken the box cutter and cut her up like she did Colleen.” What happens to Pike now? What happens next for Pike remains unclear, with her lawyers now calling for her death sentence to be commuted following the failed execution. She was rushed from the prison to an outside medical facility, where hospital staff have been working to save her life and remove the pentobarbital from her system, according to a court filing by her legal team. There are also fears she could have suffered lasting damage. Dr Joel Zivot warned: “It’s very possible that as a consequence of the delay of the beginning of resuscitation she [Pike] will have a brain injury.” But surviving an execution attempt does not necessarily mean Pike cannot face another one. Kenneth Eugene Smith survived an attempt to execute him by lethal injection in Alabama in 2022 after officials struggled to establish the required IV lines. Two years later, courts allowed the state to make another attempt and Smith was executed using nitrogen hypoxia. Lawyer John Mills, who works with death row prisoners, said the US Supreme Court has historically not prevented states from attempting an execution for a second time. For now, however, no further executions will take place in Tennessee this year. Governor Bill Lee has halted them and ordered a comprehensive third-party review into what went wrong during Pike’s failed execution. Has anyone else survived an execution attempt? Pike is believed to be the first prisoner in the modern US death penalty era to survive after being given lethal injection drugs. Seven other prisoners are known to have survived failed execution attempts, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. However, in those cases, the lethal drugs were never administered as officials were forced to abandon the executions after struggling to establish IV access. In May, officials were unable to execute Tony Von Carruthers, 57, after repeatedly failing to establish the required backup IV line. Carruthers was convicted of kidnapping and murdering three people in 1994. Governor Bill Lee later granted him a one-year reprieve, preventing the state from attempting to execute him again during that period. Problems with executions have also been recorded across the US. In 2022, more than a third were botched or highly problematic, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. Another convicted killer, Thomas Creech, survived a failed lethal injection in Idaho in 2024. Creech, who had spent more than 50 years behind bars for five murders across three states, was strapped down as officials repeatedly tried to find a usable vein. The execution team initially attempted to insert an IV into his arms and hands before eventually trying his legs after almost an hour of failed attempts. Recalling the ordeal, Creech said: “The worst ones was when they got down to my ankles, I was thinking the whole time that this is really it. I’m dead. This is my day to die.” His wife, Deborah Czuba, said those present - including members of the execution team - were deeply traumatised. She added: “I don’t think it’s something you get beyond. I think it’s scarring, mental-health wise. It just really devastates a person in a way they can’t come back from.” The execution was eventually abandoned. A new death warrant was issued later that year for November 13, 2024, but Creech was granted a stay while pursuing legal challenges against the protocol and remains in prison.