‘Unprecedented failure’: Tennessee death row inmate execution fails after two lethal injections

Tennessee death row inmate Christa Pike has survived two execution attempts after administering her two lethal injections.

According to her lawyer, after surviving the attempts she was taken to the hospital after her heart was still beating following the lethal drug injection. A death penalty expert called it an “unprecedented failure.”

During her execution, Ms. Pike's legal team filed an emergency halt after she lost consciousness, began audibly snoring, and retained a heartbeat.

According to her attorney speaking to the BBC, she was transferred to a hospital for emergency medical intervention after receiving two doses of pentobarbital.

The Tennessee Department of Correction defended its conduct throughout the attempted execution, stating it stands by every action taken.

Department spokesperson Dorinda Carter said, “The Tennessee Department of Correction followed every step of the State's lawful, established execution protocol approved by the Attorney General's Office.”

"The lethal injection chemical in the protocol has consistently been effective, and the protocol does not allow for additional procedures beyond what was carried out this evening. Christa Pike has been transported to an off-site medical facility," she said.

According to Dr Joel Zivot, a professor at the Emory University School of Medicine, it is highly possible that Pike failed to achieve a sufficient blood level of pentobarbital to cause apnoea and cardiovascular failure during the execution.

It is very possible that she will have a brain injury as a result of delay in her resuscitation.

Robin M. Maher, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center, called Pike’s execution case as “singular and unparalleled.” It is possible for a person to survive medical problems due to team’ inability to access a vein but no one has stayed alive after receiving such drugs.

Late Wednesday, the Supreme Court lifted a lower court's temporary stay in Pike's case, ruling that the lower court needed more time to review the arguments.

Pike,18, along with her boyfriend was convicted for killing Colleen Slemmer at the age of 19 at a job training camp for young people. If she had been executed successfully, Pike would have been the first woman executed in Tennessee in more than 200 years.