Christa Pike’s family felt “excited” when her execution went wrong, even though the convicted murderer was reportedly “ready to go,” her aunt said.
Pike, 50, was scheduled to become the first woman executed in Tennessee in more than 200 years on Sept. 30. Instead, she was taken to a hospital after two lethal-injection attempts.
“When they said she’s still breathing, we got excited, thinking that she was going to make it,” Pike’s aunt, Carrie Ross, told the Daily Mail.
The execution was initially set for 10 a.m. However, about an hour before it was due to begin, the Court of Appeals issued a stay. The order was lifted later that evening by the U.S. Supreme Court.
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“She didn’t want the stay,” Ross told the outlet. “She was ready to go. She was at peace. She had accepted that whatever happened was not in her control. It was in God’s control.”
Here’s the latest on the botched execution of Tennessee murderer Christa Pike:
Pike was sentenced to death for the torture and murder of her 19-year-old Job Corps classmate, Colleen Slemmer, in January 1995. Pike was 18 at the time of the killing.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
