Tennessee inmate Christa Pike hospitalised after surviving two lethal injections, lawyer says
A death row inmate in the United States state of Tennessee, Christa Pike, has been taken to hospital after her heart was still beating following two lethal injections during an execution attempt, her lawyer has said.
Her legal team filed an emergency motion to halt the execution while it was under way. In that filing, they stated: "Ms Pike has lost consciousness and still has a heartbeat and is audibly snoring."
One of her attorneys told the BBC that Pike, 50, was "being provided life-saving measures" in hospital after two syringes of the drug pentobarbital had been administered.
The attempted execution took place at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville at about 20:00 local time on Wednesday. There has been no immediate comment from the state of Tennessee on the account given by her legal team, and no official statement on her present medical condition.
The Associated Press reported that the curtain in the witness room was closed twice after Pike could be heard snoring, and that journalists were at some point asked to leave. It was not immediately clear what the closing of the curtain signified, or what the current status of the execution order is.
Pike was sentenced to death in 1996 for the murder of Colleen Slemmer. The case has moved through lengthy legal proceedings since then. No statement from the family of the victim, Colleen Slemmer, has been reported.
Lethal injection remains the primary method of execution in most US states that retain the death penalty, but the drugs used and the procedures followed have been challenged in the courts for years. Opponents of the practice argue that certain protocols may amount to cruel and unusual punishment, which is prohibited under the Eighth Amendment of the US Constitution. Supporters of capital punishment maintain that it is a lawful penalty imposed by juries for the most serious crimes, and that states have an obligation to carry out court orders.
In recent years, several executions in different states have been paused, postponed or reviewed after difficulties in administering the drugs, leading authorities to revise protocols and, in some cases, to change the substances used. These interruptions have added to a broader public debate about how, and whether, capital punishment should be carried out.
The events in Nashville on Wednesday night are likely to be examined both by the courts hearing the emergency motion and by state authorities responsible for the execution process. This is a developing story, and further verified details are expected to emerge in the coming hours.
