Pike execution: Court filing details IV struggle
A new document describes the use of ten needles and reports of vein damage before Christa Pike received lethal drugs.
By Kaito Shevchenko ·
Christa Pike experienced physical distress during her failed Tennessee execution on Sept. 30, according to a court filing released Thursday. The document provides a minute-by-minute account of the medical team's difficulty in placing the two IV lines required by state protocol.
Attorney Randy Spivey stated that the team used approximately 10 needles to access veins in Pike's arms. He noted that the right arm IV was placed within six minutes, while the left arm took nearly an hour. Spivey wrote that the team struggled to push saline through the final site, and one member reported that a vein might have ruptured before the drug was administered.
The filing specifies that the process began at 6:34 p.m. Pike suggested the team look in her upper arm when they encountered resistance. At 6:57 p.m., a team member said a vein 'might be blowing,' and by 7:07 p.m., another stated, 'I think it's blown.' The team confirmed successful placement in the left arm at 7:13 p.m.
Pike reported burning pain and said her arm felt like it was about to burst at 7:34 p.m. Over the next 30 minutes, she strained, flinched, and appeared to struggle for breath. Spivey was delayed seven minutes to reach a phone to request a halt, as a third dose of pentobarbital is not authorized. He told the deputy attorney general that Pike needed immediate medical care at 8:22 p.m.
An ambulance arrived at the hospital at 9:14 p.m. Pike, 50, was hospitalized for several days and placed on a ventilator after surviving two doses of the drug. She has since returned to prison. The filing was submitted in a separate case challenging Tennessee's lethal injection procedures. Kit Thomas, an attorney for the challengers, said the event confirmed predictions of botched executions without substantial change in the protocol.
Pike was convicted in 1995 for the stabbing death of classmate Colleen Slemmer. She was 18 at the time of the crime. Tennessee's protocol does not specify a procedure for a person who survives the second injection of pentobarbital.
Source: CBC News
