Tennessee death row inmate Christa Pike was taken to hospital after an attempt to execute her by lethal injection failed, her lawyer said.
Pike’s legal team filed an emergency motion seeking to halt the execution while it was underway, stating that she had lost consciousness but still had a heartbeat and was audibly snoring.
One of her attorneys told the BBC that the 50-year-old was being given “life-saving measures” in hospital after two syringes containing pentobarbital were administered.
Pike was sentenced to death in 1996 for the murder of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer in 1995. Her execution was preceded by a last-minute legal battle that reached the US Supreme Court, which ultimately allowed the lethal injection to proceed.
Pike was 18 when she and her then-boyfriend, Tadaryl Shipp, beat, tortured and killed Slemmer, whom they had met at a job training camp for troubled teenagers.
Slemmer’s mother, May Martinez, was among those who had called for Pike’s execution. Speaking to NBC News after Wednesday night’s events, Martinez described what happened as “a mess”.
The attempted execution took place at the Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville at around 8pm local time on Wednesday, or 1am GMT on Thursday.
Two doses ofย pentobarbital failed?
According to the Associated Press, Pike was administered two doses of pentobarbital, after which the curtain in the witness room was closed twice. At one point, members of the media were reportedly asked to leave.
Tennessee’s execution protocol provides for a second set of drug syringes if the person does not die after the first set. However, the protocol does not specify what should happen if the inmate remains alive after the second set of drugs is administered.
The shocking Tennessee murder case
The 1995 killing shocked Knoxville.
Prosecutors said Pike, fearing that Slemmer was trying to steal her boyfriend, lured her to a wooded area on January 12, 1995. Pike then cut Slemmer with a box cutter and beat her with a large piece of asphalt.
Shipp, Pikeโs boyfriend, later admitted that he carved a pentagram,ย a five-pointed star commonly associated with Satanism, into Slemmerโs body.
Shipp was 17 at the time of the crime and was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole. Pike, however, was the only one sentenced to death.
Tennessee has not executed a woman in at least 200 years, according to Robin M. Maher, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center. However, historical records are incomplete, making it difficult to determine exactly when the state last executed a woman.
Executions of women remain rare across the US. Since 1976, 18 women have been executed nationwide, accounting for about 1% of all executions, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.
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