Witnesses describe Christa Pike’s failed execution after she survives two rounds of lethal injection

Witnesses to Christa Pike’s failed execution have spoken out, arguing that “none of it was normal” after she survived two doses of lethal injection. 

After thirty years on death row for the murder of Colleen Slemmer, Christa Pike was set to be executed by way of lethal injection on Wednesday, September 30. As we know, the two attempts failed, and Christa was rushed to the hospital for treatment. We’re yet to hear anything else about her condition. 

Colleen Slemmer’s mum is angry 

Credit: YouTube

One person in that room was May Martinez, the mother of the teen Christa and her boyfriend killed. Speaking to NBC, she argued that the correctional facility, the state’s governor, and the attorney general “f**ked up.”

“They went to try to execute her, and she didn’t die,” she said. “They didn’t say anything, and then, all of a sudden, they asked all the victims to leave. And we left. We didn’t know anything until we got up to the office and saw the commissioner. And he said that it didn’t work, that it didn’t work, and she’s on her way to the hospital.”

Reporters were also in the room 

Covering the execution for WPLN, journalist Catherine Sweeney shared: “They went through two rounds and she was still breathing at the end. It was very ragged. She lifted her head up and she was looking around at one point. She said that there was a spot burning and hurting and asked if that was normal. None of it was normal.”

She also revealed that the witnesses were waiting for an hour before it started, adding: “Normally it’s 10, 15 minutes and then things get underway.”

Similarly, WKRN anchor Tori Gessne shared that Christa was “snoring.”

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“When the curtains were open she was kind of inconsistently going in and out of snores and silence,” she told CNN. “When the curtains closed one final time at 8:05 p.m., we could consistently hear her snoring, and it kind of developed into a snore/squeak. Even at 8:53 pm, when the microphone was cut off, we could still hear snoring.”

Another reporter noted: “It was remarkable how long she continued talking and singing and moving.”

A TV producer said there are a lot of questions 

Credit: Tennessee Department of Correction

Local TV producer John North told NBC that the witnesses to the execution had a lot of questions about what went wrong. They were seemingly left in the dark as the authorities closed the curtains. 

He explained: “We have a lot of questions about what we saw and what we did not see, because there were moments when the blinds were down for us, and there were moments when the blinds were up for us.”

“It appears that this did not go like they thought it was supposed to go, but we don’t know that. When we left the building, so far as we knew, she was probably still alive — you just saw the emergency vehicles pull up. We don’t know her status.”

An update on Christa Pike is expected. 

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Featured image credit: WIBR