Tennessee death row inmate Christa Pike survived a botched execution attempt and is in critical condition, according to court filings. Pike, 50, was injected with two doses of pentobarbital during a failed lethal injection and is now on a ventilator and intubated. The state has suspended all executions for the year as an investigation unfolds.
Pike's lawyers filed an emergency motion seeking to preserve all evidence related to the failed execution. They allege that the execution team failed to correctly place IV lines and that the pentobarbital entered Pike's body instead of her bloodstream. Medical staff are working to clear the drug from her system and save her life.
Tennessee Governor Bill Lee has ordered an independent review into the botched execution. The state's department of correction defended the method used, stating the protocol does not allow for additional procedures. Pike's lawyers argue that her medical conditions, including thrombocytosis, may have contributed to the failed execution.
The execution attempt was the first in over 200 years for Tennessee, and Pike was the only woman on the state's death row. Her lawyers are seeking to have her sentence commuted to life in prison after what they called 'chemical torture' during the failed execution.