Christa Pike, a Tennessee death row inmate, is unconscious, intubated, and on a ventilator after surviving a failed execution attempt by lethal injection, her lawyers say. She remains critically ill and is receiving treatment at a hospital in Nashville, according to court filings from her legal team.

Pike was transported by ambulance to the hospital from a Tennessee prison on Wednesday, following the botched attempt, Al Jazeera reported. Her lawyers stated on Friday that medical staff are working to save her life and clear her system of pentobarbital, the drug used by the state for executions.

Details of the Failed Execution

Pike, 50, was injected with two lethal doses of pentobarbital on Wednesday but remained alive, according to her lawyers in court filings cited by the BBC. The BBC also reported that prison officials attempted to start intravenous (IV) lines by using at least seven needles on Pike during the execution attempt. Her lawyers stated that one needle was bent at a 90-degree angle when it was removed.

Al Jazeera reported that Pike's lawyers wrote that "both of her arms were swollen, burned, and blistered" upon her arrival at the hospital. They alleged that problems with the IV lines caused the pentobarbital to flow into her body instead of her bloodstream. "Apparently at no point did any member of the execution team realise that the IV lines were not correctly placed or that the veins had blown and that the pentobarbital was, in whole or in part, entering Ms Pike's body," her lawyers wrote, according to Al Jazeera.

The lawyers further alleged that prison staff prepared "a backup set of syringes" and "administered another lethal dose of pentobarbital," Al Jazeera reported. During the administration of the two doses, Pike "could be heard crying, whimpering, and breathing loudly throughout the procedure," her lawyers said, according to the BBC.

Dr. Joel Zivot, an anaesthesiologist advising Pike's defense team, said that two doses of pentobarbital would typically be enough to cause death if it entered the bloodstream in normal circulation, the BBC reported. Zivot suggested that the only possible explanation for her survival is that the pentobarbital blood level was never high enough to cause death. He added that blisters on her arm after the botched execution indicated a ruptured vein, meaning the drug likely spread across the tissue under her skin instead of entering her bloodstream.

Pike's lawyers had previously warned that her medical conditions, including thrombocytosis (a blood-clotting condition) and small veins, meant there was a risk she would experience "unnecessary" pain and suffering during a lethal injection, the BBC reported. Dr. Zivot also noted that thrombocytosis may have played a role by forming blood clots at the injection site that could potentially block pentobarbital from entering her veins.

Background and Context

Christa Pike was sentenced to death in 1996 for the murder of Colleen Slemmer, the BBC reported. She was 18 when she, along with her then-boyfriend Tadaryl Shipp, beat, tortured, and killed 19-year-old Slemmer in 1995. This occurred after Pike accused Slemmer of insulting her and trying to steal her boyfriend, according to the BBC.

Pike would have been the first woman in more than 200 years to be executed in Tennessee. She was also the only woman on the state's death row, Al Jazeera reported.

The attempted execution proceeded despite multiple failed, last-minute legal challenges by Pike's lawyers, the BBC noted. Tennessee's Governor Bill Lee had also denied a clemency request from Pike.

Pike's co-defendant, Tadaryl Shipp, was 17 at the time of the crime and was spared the death penalty under state law. He received a life sentence with the possibility of parole and remains in prison, the BBC reported.

Aftermath and Next Steps

Tennessee Governor Bill Lee has suspended all executions for the rest of the year and ordered an independent review into Pike's botched execution, according to both Al Jazeera and the BBC.

Pike's lawyers have called for her sentence to be commuted to life in prison, describing her experience as "chemical torture," Al Jazeera reported. They filed an emergency motion on Friday to preserve "any and all evidence" related to her botched execution, the BBC stated. They are requesting that all relevant physical, written, and electronic evidence be preserved, according to the BBC.

Authorities have not yet stated whether they will attempt to execute Pike again, nor have they offered explanations about what went wrong, the BBC reported. The state's department of correction has defended its method, saying "the protocol does not allow for additional procedures beyond what was carried out," according to the BBC.