Tennessee inmate hospitalized after failed lethal injection
publishers 34articles 36first reported 1 Oct, 02:22 UTCdeveloping since 1 Oct · 2 editions
Christa Pike, Tennessee’s only woman on death row, remained alive and hospitalized Thursday after the state failed to execute her by lethal injection Wednesday night.
Pike, 50, received two injections of lethal drugs but did not die, according to her attorneys. The Tennessee Department of Correction said she was transported to an off-site medical facility. The San Francisco Chronicle reported Thursday afternoon that she was in critical condition.
Journalists who witnessed the execution attempt said Pike complained of arm pain, kicked and thrashed on the gurney, and was heard snoring. Curtains to the death chamber were closed at times. An ambulance later arrived at the prison and transported her away.
Gov. Bill Lee ordered a comprehensive third-party review of the failed execution and said Tennessee’s final execution scheduled for this year would not proceed as planned. Lee said Thursday morning that he did not know Pike’s condition and that questions remained about what happened, though he believed the proper protocol had been followed.
The U.S. Supreme Court had allowed the execution to proceed Wednesday in a 6-3 decision reversing a federal appeals court. Pike was sentenced to death for the 1995 torture and murder of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer, a classmate in a Job Corps training program. Pike was 18 at the time of the killing.
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Written from 3 articles, 1 with the publisher's own text; 2 independent newsrooms once syndicated copies count as one; this version written 8 h after the record first saw the story; the editor kept it as written.
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- Source articles
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- Given to the writer
- 3, 1 with the article's own text
- Independent newsrooms
- 2
- This version written
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- Second model (editor)
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