‘Alive and snoring’: Tennessee fails to execute Christa Pike after administering 2 lethal injection doses

Tennessee officials tried to put Christa Gail Pike to death on Wednesday, September 30, for a murder she did when she was 18 in 1995, but were unsuccessful, the Associated Press reported, citing media witnesses. She was scheduled to give a lethal injection, which was halted for hours because of legal delays.

The Tennessean reported on 8:48 p.m. CT that “she's still alive an hour” after she was administered lethal injection drugs on Wednesday evening, citing the attorneys.

As per the them, prison officials reportedly “pushed the drugs into Pike's body,” but that didn't stop her heart.


The 50-year-old death row inmate was scheduled to be killed by the state with lethal injection at 10 a.m. September 30 at Riverbend Maxiumum Security Institution in Nashville. She could also be the state’s first execution of a woman in at least 200 years.

According to The Tennessean, Pike’s attorney Kelly Gleason said executioners administered two syringes of lethal-injection drugs, but Pike remained alive and breathing. “She's alive and snoring,” Gleason said, adding, “She needs immediate medical care.” Attorney Amy Harwell was driving to file an emergency motion with the Tennessee Supreme Court, while Gleason said Pike’s lawyers could not reach officials who could intervene.

Pike, the only woman on Tennessee’s death row, and her boyfriend, Tadaryl Shipp were found guilty of murdering and beating up Slemmer in 1995. Slemmer, who was their fellow classmate at a job training program in Knoxville, was only 19 years old at the time of the incident. One of the reasons why this murder case got such publicity is due to the pentagram that was engraved on Slemmer’s body.