Follow-Up: New Filing Details Pike Execution in Tennessee: Nearly a Dozen Needle Sticks as Warnings Mounted

A court filing submitted on October 22 by attorneys representing Tennessee death row inmates has disclosed new details of the night of September 30, when the state's attempt to execute Christa Pike by lethal injection failed. The filing says the execution team "tried and failed for over two hours to kill Christa Pike," and moved forward with administering lethal drugs despite indications that her intravenous lines were not functioning properly. (GSM, based on reporting by USA Today and The Associated Press)

The document, part of an ongoing lawsuit by death row prisoners challenging Tennessee's lethal injection procedures, seeks to add the allegations about Pike's failed execution to that case. It says personnel punctured Pike with nearly a dozen needles while trying to establish IV access in her arms, repeatedly believed they had secured a working line before discovering otherwise, and had trouble pushing saline through. According to her attorney Randy Spivey, who witnessed the execution, the prison warden attributed the difficulty pushing saline to the positioning of the line and tape being too tight. The Associated Press, citing a declaration by Spivey referenced in the filing, reported that team members warned veins may have "blown," with one saying something like, "it's either blood or blown, I need to know."

The filing also says the execution physician did not attempt to establish a central IV line, an alternative procedure permitted under Tennessee's execution protocol. As the execution unfolded, Pike complained that her arm felt like it was "about to bust" and that one spot was "really burning." She continued speaking with her spiritual adviser after the first dose was administered; her breathing then became labored, and prison officials closed the curtains separating the execution chamber from witnesses. After the second dose, Spivey noticed that Pike's right arm appeared purple below the elbow. The filing describes increasingly loud choking and rhythmic gasping sounds, and says witnesses remained behind closed curtains for nearly an hour as she continued struggling to breathe.

The filing also raises questions about the emergency response that night. A 911 call requesting an ambulance was made at 8:40 p.m., but first responders were delayed after prison officials initially failed to provide a verification code and dispatchers were incorrectly told the emergency request was not legitimate, according to the filing. Emergency personnel were not admitted to the prison until 9:15 p.m., and Pike was transported out at 9:26 p.m. She remained unresponsive in critical condition for nearly a week before regaining consciousness on October 6. Her attorneys later reported that she suffered pneumonia, a blood clot, difficulty walking and swallowing, cognitive problems and an inability to move her arms or hands; the full extent of her injuries has not been disclosed. The filing also raises new questions about the qualifications of the physician responsible for carrying out executions.

Pike, now 50, was sentenced to death for the 1995 torture and murder of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer. On September 30, two rounds of the lethal injection drug pentobarbital failed to kill her; she had been scheduled to become the first woman executed in Tennessee in more than two centuries. Governor Bill Lee subsequently halted all executions in the state for the remainder of 2026 and ordered an independent review, and the commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Correction resigned. GSM previously reported Pike regaining consciousness; the new filing is the latest development in the case, and state officials have not publicly responded to its new allegations.

Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)

Photo: 田纳西州 Nashville 天际线（资料图，行刑所在的 Riverbend 最高安全监狱位于该市）。照片：Jacknstock，CC BY-SA 4.0，经 Wikimedia Commons

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