Condemned killer Christa Pike remained alive and was reportedly snoring Wednesday night after receiving both syringes of lethal-injection drugs.
Pike, 50, had been scheduled for execution by lethal injection at 10 a.m. Wednesday in Tennessee. She was convicted in the 1995 murder of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer, whom prosecutors said she attacked during a jealous rage.
The execution was delayed for several hours after the US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit issued a stay, ordering that Pike’s execution be halted “until further order of this court.”
Shortly before 6 p.m. local time, the US Supreme Court lifted the appeals court’s order, allowing Tennessee officials to proceed with the execution.
Pike was given two syringes of lethal-injection drugs at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville shortly before 7:30 p.m. However, The Tennessean reported that she was still breathing and alive as late as 9 p.m.
“She’s alive and snoring,” attorney Kelley Gleason said. She explained that the information came from another member of Pike’s legal team, Randy Spivey, who was inside the execution chamber.
Witnesses later told reporters that Pike had also been heard saying her arm felt as though it was about to burst open.
Pike, pictured in court in 2007, was reportedly still “alive and snoring” after receiving both syringes of lethal-injection drugs Wednesday night.
Pike was 18 when she was convicted in March 1996 of brutally stabbing and beating Knoxville Job Corps student Colleen Slemmer, pictured, to death.
According to witnesses, the curtains to the execution chamber opened at 7:26 p.m. Pike sang a song with her spiritual adviser before delivering her final statement.
The curtains closed at 7:46 p.m., with Pike reportedly heard snoring inside the chamber. Witnesses were escorted out shortly before 9 p.m.
Pike’s attorney Amy Harwell was seeking emergency relief from the Tennessee Supreme Court as the situation unfolded.
The emergency legal effort came about a month after Pike’s lawyers argued in a Knoxville hearing that her thrombocytosis, a blood disorder associated with an elevated platelet count, could increase clotting and pain during the lethal-injection process.
Her attorneys also maintained that Pike’s veins were difficult to access, warning that failed attempts to establish an intravenous line could prolong the execution and increase her suffering.
State prosecutors rejected those arguments. Hematologist Dr. Richard Mansour testified that Pike’s recent medical records indicated her veins could be accessed.
Mansour also said medical workers had completed nearly all of her recent blood draws after only one needle insertion.
Senior Judge Mark Ward ultimately ruled that the evidence did not establish a substantial risk that Pike’s veins or blood condition would cause severe pain during the execution.
Pike’s lawyers argued in a Knoxville hearing that thrombocytosis could raise the risk of clotting and pain during the execution.
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Pike’s attorneys had previously asked Tennessee officials to use an all-female firing squad or hanging as an alternative method of execution, the New York Post reported.
The lawyers argued that being restrained and handled by male officers could trigger Pike’s past sexual trauma. They said she had suffered sexual abuse and had been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder.
‘[Lethal injection administered by men] will increase the likelihood that an Eighth Amendment violation will occur,’ Ferrell said.
‘There is an increased risk of pain and suffering.’
According to the Cornell Center on the Death Penalty Worldwide, Pike was a victim of child sexual abuse, multiple rapes and attempted suicide at age 12.
When she was 17, she was allegedly grabbed by a stranger by the side of the road and raped. Police never arrested a suspect.
She allegedly killed Colleen Slemmer almost one year to the day after the rape.
Pike is pictured being escorted from Knox County Criminal Court on March 30, 1996, after being sentenced to death for the murder of Colleen Slemmer
Pike was assisted by her boyfriend, Tadaryl Shipp (left), and their classmate Shadolla Peterson (right)
Pike was convicted at the age of 18 in March 1996 for brutally stabbing and beating Knoxville Job Corps student Colleen Slemmer to death.
She initially demanded she be spared a lethal injection because of her Buddhist beliefs. Earlier this month, she asked for an all-female firing squad to carry out her killing, with her lawyers citing the abuse she experienced as a child.
Her boyfriend, Tadaryl Shipp, and an accomplice, Shadolla Peterson, also helped lure Slemmer to a wooded area before the couple tortured her to death.
The pair carved a pentagram into the teen’s chest, and Peterson testified that he saw Pike also carve something into Slemmer’s head, police evidence showed.
Pike also took a piece of her skull as a souvenir, according to investigators.
Slemmer attempted to run for her life but the couple captured her again and continued the gruesome torture that lasted about 30 minutes to an hour, Pike estimated.
Pike and Shipp were both found guilty of first-degree murder. She was sentenced to death, and he received a life sentence with the possibility of parole.
Peterson, then 18, served as a lookout for the couple during the deadly attack and was granted probation in exchange for her cooperation.
