Tennessee execution team reported vein rupture before injecting lethal drug

Christa Pike endured ten needle attempts and reported burning pain in her arm before a Tennessee execution team administered lethal drugs, according to a court filing. The document, submitted Thursday, provides the most granular account yet of the September 30 procedure. Pike, 50, survived the injection and was hospitalized for several days.

Attorney Randy Spivey stated that the intravenous team struggled to establish the two lines required by state protocol. They inserted approximately ten needles into both of Pike's arms. The team encountered difficulties even after placing the final line, as they had trouble pushing saline through it.

Spivey wrote that Pike assisted the team by suggesting they search her upper arm for a usable vein. An IV was secured in her right arm within six minutes. The process for her left arm took nearly an hour. Pike was wincing and grimacing during the procedure. Team members frequently voiced doubts about their progress.

The filing records specific timestamps regarding the condition of Pike's veins. At 6:57 p.m., one member stated a vein might be blowing, though two others could not confirm. A needle removed at 7:07 p.m. appeared severely bent. A team member declared, "I think it's blown," at that same time. The group concluded at 7:13 p.m. that the left arm IV was successfully placed.

Phone calls to the execution chamber began five minutes after the IV placement. Spivey noted that team members in an adjoining room repeatedly asked the IV team to check Pike's left arm while pushing the drug. It is unclear when the pentobarbital entered the lines. At 7:34 p.m., Pike stated, "I feel like my arm is about to bust. It burns."

Pike made an agitated snoring sound about 10 minutes after speaking with her spiritual adviser. Over the next 30 minutes, she strained, flinched, and moved her head. Spivey said she appeared to struggle to breathe. He requested a phone but was taken on a seven-minute route through the facility instead of being allowed to use the device in the witness room.

At 8:22 p.m., Spivey called fellow attorneys to halt the execution. He noted that Tennessee law does not authorize a third dose. He informed the deputy attorney general that Pike required immediate medical care. He was told at 8:50 p.m. that an ambulance was en route. Medical staff were performing life-saving measures about 20 minutes later.

Tennessee's protocol mandates a second dose of pentobarbital if the first does not cause death. It does not specify procedures for surviving a second injection. Pike was placed on a ventilator for several days following the attempt. Her attorneys reported at one point that they did not expect her to survive. She regained consciousness and has returned to prison since her hospital discharge.

Kit Thomas, an attorney representing other death row inmates challenging lethal injection procedures, commented on the filing. He said, "Our predictions about the likelihood of botched executions have come true, and will continue to come true, without substantial change." Pike was convicted in 1995 for the stabbing death of classmate Colleen Slemmer. She was 18 at the time of the crime.

An ambulance arrived at the hospital at 9:14 p.m. Pike was one of the youngest women ever sentenced to death in the state. The case has become a focal point for legal challenges regarding the state's execution methods.