Tennessee officials were unable to carry out the execution of Christa Gail Pike on Wednesday night, according to an emergency motion filed by her attorneys and media witness reports from The Associated Press.
Pike was slated to be the first woman executed in Tennessee in more than two hundred years. She was convicted of a 1995 murder.
Attorneys for Pike said Wednesday night that Tennessee executioners administered two syringes of pentobarbital and that she was still alive and snoring inside Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville, according to @gatewaypundit.
Media witnesses were already at a podium speaking at the time, the Gateway Pundit post said.
@FoxNews reported: "BREAKING: Tennessee death row inmate Christa Pike is still alive after 2 lethal injections, according to her lawyer. At 8:26 p.m. local time, witnesses said executioners had 'injected both syringes of lethal injection chemicals and Pike is still alive and snoring,' her lawyers" said.
@CBSNews reported: "BREAKING: Christa Pike still has a heartbeat after Tennessee unsuccessfully attempted to execute her by lethal injection."
Media witnesses said Tennessee officials were unable to put Christa Gail Pike to death for the 1995 murder, according to @AP.
@CNN reported that Pike's lawyers filed an emergency motion late Wednesday to the US Supreme Court seeking to immediately halt and stay the execution, saying she was in "unnecessary" pain.
One of her attorneys told the BBC that Pike, fifty, was in hospital after two syringes of pentobarbital had been administered.
Pike was eighteen when she murdered a classmate. She would be the first woman the state has executed in more than two hundred years.
The Supreme Court had earlier allowed the execution of Pike to proceed after a delay, according to The Washington Post. An appeals court had paused Pike's execution to consider her claim that sexual abuse she faced as a child should impact her punishment. The Supreme Court's decision cleared the way for the execution to move forward.
By late Wednesday night, the status of Pike remained unknown after she was administered a lethal injection, according to witnesses.
Next News Network could not independently verify the claims made by Pike's attorneys or the media witnesses.
The reaction from Pike's legal team and media witnesses spread across multiple outlets. @CBSNews, @AP, @CNN, @FoxNews, and @gatewaypundit all carried the story as it developed Wednesday night.
The sequence of events, as reported by these accounts, began with media witnesses saying Tennessee officials were unable to carry out the execution for a 1995 murder. Then Pike's attorneys claimed that two syringes of pentobarbital had been administered and that she was still alive and snoring. The attorneys then filed an emergency motion to the US Supreme Court, saying she was in "unnecessary" pain.
One of her attorneys later told the BBC that Pike was in hospital after the two syringes had been administered.
The execution attempt came after the Supreme Court allowed it to proceed. An appeals court had paused the execution to consider Pike's claim that sexual abuse she faced as a child should impact her punishment. The Supreme Court's decision cleared the way for the execution to move forward.
Pike was fifty years old at the time of the attempted execution. She was eighteen when she murdered a classmate in 1995. She would have been the first woman executed in Tennessee in more than two hundred years.
The claims made by Pike's attorneys and media witnesses have not been independently confirmed. Next News Network could not independently verify the claims.
The reactions from the accounts carrying the story show how far it spread. @CBSNews, @AP, @CNN, @FoxNews, and @gatewaypundit all reported on the development, with each account adding details as they emerged.
What is known is that media witnesses said Tennessee officials were unable to carry out the execution. What is claimed is that two syringes of pentobarbital were administered and that Pike was still alive and snoring. What is alleged is that she was in "unnecessary" pain. What is not yet known is her current medical condition.
The emergency motion filed by her attorneys sought to immediately halt and stay the execution. The Supreme Court had earlier allowed the execution to proceed after a delay. An appeals court had paused the execution to consider her claim that sexual abuse she faced as a child should impact her punishment.
This is a developing story. Next News Network will provide updates as more information becomes available.
Our Take
The botched execution of Christa Pike is a damning indictment of Tennessee's death penalty system. If the claims by Pike's attorneys are true—that two syringes of pentobarbital were administered and she was still alive and snoring—then the state failed in its most solemn duty. The Supreme Court allowed this execution to proceed after a delay, and now we are left with an inmate in hospital and more questions than answers. The left will use this to argue against the death penalty entirely, but the real issue is competence. When the state cannot carry out a lawful sentence, it undermines the rule of law and gives ammunition to those who want to abolish capital punishment. The victims of Pike's 1995 murder deserve justice, not this circus. Tennessee officials must answer for this failure, and the Supreme Court must reconsider its rush to proceed. We cannot allow incompetence to become the story of American justice.
