Lawyer for Christa Pike Seeks to Overturn Death Sentence After Botched Execution

Christa Pike's lawyer is urging Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee to commute her death sentence, asserting that the "tortuous" failed execution she endured is punishment enough, even for her "awful crime."

Stephen Ferrell, an assistant federal defender, called on the governor to spare Pike from future execution attempts, even if she recovers from her current critical condition following Wednesday's botched lethal injection. Pike was being executed for the 1995 murder 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."

Governor Lee has suspended all state executions for the remainder of the year but has not definitively ruled out Pike being executed at a later date. However, Ferrell stressed that her recovery is uncertain.

"She’s still in the hospital on a ventilator, critically ill," Ferrell stated. "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 claims that issues with the intravenous lines led to the pentobarbital doses being administered incorrectly, flowing into her body rather than her bloodstream. Court documents indicate that her lawyers criticized Tennessee officials for failing to address the problem.

"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," the documents state.

Pike was secured to a gurney at Nashville’s Riverbend Maximum Security Institution when the two doses were administered. Witnesses reported that after the second dose, Pike experienced a "burning" sensation and inquired if it was normal.

Pike was convicted of the murder of Colleen Slemmer, whom she, her then-boyfriend Tadaryl Shipp, and another individual lured to an isolated area near the University of Tennessee campus in Knoxville. Slemmer was subjected to assault and torture, with a pentagram carved into her chest while she was still alive.

Pike, who was 18 at the time of the crime, received a death sentence. Shipp, who was 17 when the murder occurred, was sentenced to life with the possibility of parole after 25 years. Shipp was denied parole in October 2025 due to the severity of the offense and is not eligible for review until October 2031.

Pike was later diagnosed with bipolar disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder, and has stated she was a "mentally ill 18-year-old kid" at the time of the murder.

Governor Lee expressed his "highly disappointed" reaction to the botched execution and has 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, is scheduled to step down later this month.