An attorney for death-row inmate Christa Pike is urging Tennessee to commute her sentence, arguing that the “tortuous” failed execution she endured is punishment enough—even for what he described as her “awful crime.”
Stephen Ferrell, an assistant federal defender, appealed to Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee to prevent any future execution attempt if Pike survives her critical illness. She remained hospitalized after Wednesday’s botched two-dose lethal injection for the 1995 killing of her classmate, Colleen Slemmer.
“This has been a serious punishment for a very serious and awful crime,” Ferrell told CNN on Sunday.
“I don’t think that attempting another execution is going to bring justice.”
The outgoing governor has halted all executions in Tennessee for the remainder of the year, but has not closed the door on Pike being put to death at a later date.
Ferrell emphasized, however, that it remains far too early to determine whether Pike will recover from the failed execution attempt.
“She’s still in the hospital on a ventilator, critically ill,” Ferrell told CNN.
“We don’t really know the prognosis yet, and may not for several days. We don’t know what her physical state will be, but it is clear that she has endured a tortuous attempt at executing her.
“I think one of the main things that will leave this up in the air for a while is the fact that we don’t know what the prognosis is—as in, the long-term prognosis. If she recovers—she may not fully recover.
“There may be issues about her competence. We just don’t know any of this.”
Pike’s legal team has said that problems with the intravenous lines caused the pentobarbital doses to enter her body rather than flow properly into her bloodstream.
According to court filings, her attorneys accused Tennessee officials of failing to identify and correct the problem during the execution.
“Apparently at no point did any member of the execution team realize that the IV lines were not correctly placed or that the veins had blown and that the pentobarbital was, in whole or in part, entering Ms. Pike’s body,” they wrote.
Pike was secured to a gurney in the execution chamber at Nashville’s Riverbend Maximum Security Institution when officials administered the two injections.
Witness journalists said Pike reported a “burning” sensation after the second dose and asked whether the pain was normal.
Pike received a death sentence for killing Slemmer, whom she lured with her then-boyfriend, Tadaryl Shipp, to a secluded location near the University of Tennessee campus in Knoxville.
Slemmer was attacked and tortured with a box cutter, and a pentagram was carved into her chest while she was still alive.
Pike was 18 when the crime occurred and was later sentenced to death. Shipp, who was 17 at the time, received a sentence of life plus 25 years, with the possibility of parole.
Pike was subsequently diagnosed with bipolar disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder. She has described herself at the time of the killing as a “mentally ill 18-year-old kid.”
Shipp was denied parole in October 2025 “due to the seriousness of the offense,” WCNC reported. He will not be eligible for another review until October 2031.
Here’s the latest on the botched execution of Tennessee murderer Christa Pike:
Gov. Lee said he was “highly disappointed” by the botched execution and called for a “thorough, and comprehensive and third-party review and investigation” of the state’s protocol.
Frank Strada, the Tennessee Department of Correction Commissioner, will step down later this month.
With Post wires.
