Christa Pike returns to prison after surviving Tennessee execution attempt
publishers 33articles 40first reported 5 Oct, 16:21 UTCdeveloping since 5 Oct · 12 editions
Christa Pike has returned to prison after being discharged from the hospital following Tennessee’s failed attempt to execute her by lethal injection on Sept. 30, her attorneys said Saturday.
Pike, 50, was taken to a hospital in critical condition after she survived Tennessee’s botched effort to execute her and was given two doses of pentobarbital. Her lawyers said she has returned to the Deborah K. Johnson Rehabilitation Center, where she has been held for about three decades, and will continue receiving medical care. They previously reported that she experienced swollen, burning arms and difficulty swallowing after the procedure.
State officials have said the approved execution protocol was followed, but no official explanation has been given for Pike’s survival. Medical experts cited by The Guardian suggested the drug may have entered tissue surrounding a vein, a vein may have failed, or the drug itself may have been faulty. Pike’s attorneys had warned before the execution that her veins and other medical conditions could cause complications.
Pike was sentenced to death for the 1995 torture and murder of 18-year-old Colleen Slemmer, a classmate at the Knoxville Job Corps. Pike was 19 at the time of the crime.
Tennessee Governor Bill Lee has ordered an investigation and suspended executions in the state for the remainder of the year. The state’s top prisons official has also announced his resignation. Pike’s lawyers are renewing their effort to have her death sentence commuted.
HOW THIS STORY WAS MADE
Written from 8 articles, 2 with the publisher's own text; 8 independent newsrooms once syndicated copies count as one; this version written 132 h after the record first saw the story; the editor revised it.
- Publishers
- 33
- Source articles
- 40
- Given to the writer
- 8, 2 with the article's own text
- Independent newsrooms
- 8
- This version written
- 132 h after the record first saw the story
- Second model (editor)
- revised
- Publication gate
- passed
- Human review
- none
WHAT THE EDITOR DID
The second model checked the writer's draft against the same sources and changed it before publication. Struck words were in the draft; underlined words are its corrections.
WHAT IT FLAGGED editor revise: The story is largely supported, but two details should be tightened to match the sourced wording and specific age. - "after surviving two doses of pentobarbital": The sources say Pike was given or survived two doses of pentobarbital during the failed execution attempt, but this phrasing could misleadingly imply the doses were separate causes of survival; keep the sourced wording. - "Pike was also a teenager at the time of the crime.": The Guardian says Pike was 19 at the time; saying only that she was a teenager is not false but omits the specific sourced age in a potentially material context also disputed by RTÉ's excerpt.
THE DRAFT AND THE CHANGES
Christa Pike returns to prison after surviving Tennessee execution attempt
Christa Pike has returned to prison after being discharged from the hospital following Tennessee’s failed attempt to execute her by lethal injection on Sept. 30, her attorneys said Saturday.
Pike, 50, was taken to a hospital in critical condition after survivingshe survived Tennessee’s botched effort to execute her and was given two doses of pentobarbital. Her lawyers said she has returned to the Deborah K. Johnson Rehabilitation Center, where she has been held for about three decades, and will continue receiving medical care. They previously reported that she experienced swollen, burning arms and difficulty swallowing after the procedure.
State officials have said the approved execution protocol was followed, but no official explanation has been given for Pike’s survival. Medical experts cited by The Guardian suggested the drug may have entered tissue surrounding a vein, a vein may have failed, or the drug itself may have been faulty. Pike’s attorneys had warned before the execution that her veins and other medical conditions could cause complications.
Pike was sentenced to death for the 1995 torture and murder of 18-year-old Colleen Slemmer, a classmate at the Knoxville Job Corps. Pike was also a teenager19 at the time of the crime.
Tennessee Governor Bill Lee has ordered an investigation and suspended executions in the state for the remainder of the year. The state’s top prisons official has also announced his resignation. Pike’s lawyers are renewing their effort to have her death sentence commuted.
Written by a language model from the sources above, then checked by a second model that may only cut, attribute or correct. How it works →