Tennessee Governor Suggests Christa Pike's Death Sentence Will Stand After Botched Execution
Governor Bill Lee indicated that Pike's sentence will likely remain the same unless a court rules otherwise, following a failed lethal injection attempt.
Christa Pike is likely to remain on death row despite a botched execution attempt, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee announced. The state administered two doses of pentobarbital in a failed effort to execute Pike for the 1995 stabbing death of her classmate, Colleen Slemmer.
"As it related to a particular individual like Christa Pike and her crime, she's still incarcerated under the laws of the State of Tennessee," Lee said, according to WSMV News. "I suspect her sentence will be the same as before unless determined otherwise by the courts."
Pike's legal team has called for her death sentence to be commuted to life imprisonment without parole. During the procedure, Pike, 50, reported pain, and upon transfer to a hospital, both her arms showed swelling, burns, and blisters. Her attorneys stated that faulty IV lines may have caused the lethal injection to infuse into her arm tissue instead of her bloodstream.
Pike has since returned to prison. Her attorneys reported that she is able to walk and speak, dispelling initial fears of severe injury. The incident has raised questions about whether Tennessee would attempt another execution.
Governor Lee, who has paused all executions through the end of the year, suggested Pike's death sentence is likely to stand. A Tennessee judge has ordered the state to preserve all evidence related to the failed execution. Assistant Attorney General John Ayers confirmed that the Department of Correction has already secured log books, observation logs, medical waste, and electrocardiogram readouts.
Pike was 18 years old when she and her then-boyfriend, Tadaryl Shipp, killed 19-year-old Slemmer at a job training camp. Prosecutors stated that Pike lured Slemmer to a wooded area, attacked her with a box cutter, and beat her with a piece of asphalt. Shipp carved a pentagram into Slemmer's body. Shipp, who was 17 at the time, received a life sentence with the possibility of parole, while Pike was the only one sentenced to death.
