Tennessee execution team feared Pike’s vein had ruptured

Members of the team assigned to execute Tennessee death row inmate Christa Pike repeatedly questioned whether they had damaged her veins while trying to establish an intravenous line, according to an account by her lawyer reported by Anadolu Agency.

Attorney Randy Spivey said in a court filing, cited by The Guardian, that the team used about 10 needles and spent nearly 50 minutes trying to establish a working line before proceeding with the lethal injection on Sept. 30. Spivey witnessed the execution attempt.

Team members worried that Pike’s vein might have “blown,” meaning it had ruptured, and struggled to determine whether the needle had entered a vein, according to Spivey.

Despite those difficulties, the team proceeded with the injection. Pike remained alive and made snoring and choking sounds before officials called off the execution.

Pike, 50, spent 10 days in hospital before returning to prison in Nashville. She has regained the ability to walk and talk, but her long-term medical prognosis remains unclear.

The failed execution has intensified scrutiny of Tennessee’s lethal injection procedures. Republican Governor Bill Lee suspended executions in the state pending a review.

The case has also drawn attention to the attempted execution of another death row inmate, Tony Carruthers, who survived an execution attempt in May after officials struggled to find a vein.

Lawyers representing death row prisoners say the cases exposed serious flaws in the state’s execution protocol. They have renewed their legal challenge, arguing that the procedures risk causing severe pain and suffering.

Pike was sentenced to death for the 1995 murder of Colleen Slemmer, a classmate she killed when she was 18.