Tennessee governor suggests Christa Pike’s death sentence will remain unchanged after botched execution

Tennessee Governor Bill Lee has suggested that convicted murderer Christa Pike’s death sentence will likely remain in place following a botched execution last month, unless the courts decide otherwise.

Pike, 50, was scheduled to become the first woman executed in Tennessee in more than 200 years on September 30. Instead, she survived the lethal injection, in what reports have described as an unprecedented case in U.S. history.

“She’s still incarcerated under the laws of the state of Tennessee,” Lee said, referring to Pike. “I suspect her sentence will be the same as before unless determined otherwise by the courts.”

Pike’s attorneys had urged Lee, who is set to leave office in January, to commute her sentence. They argued that she had endured punishment greater than that experienced by anyone else in the history of the U.S. death penalty.

Following the failed execution, Lee suspended all executions in Tennessee for the remainder of the year and ordered an independent review into what went wrong.

Pike survived failed lethal injection

Pike was sentenced to death for the 1995 murder of her Job Corps classmate, Colleen Slemmer, in Knoxville. Prosecutors said the killing was motivated by jealousy.

During the September 30 execution attempt at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville, Pike reportedly received two doses of pentobarbital through at least 10 needle insertions. She was rushed to a hospital after surviving the procedure.

Pike remained unconscious for several days and was reportedly believed to be brain-dead before regaining consciousness on October 6. She is now being held at the Debra K. Johnson Rehabilitation Center, formerly known as the Tennessee Prison for Women. Her attorneys said last week that she had recovered enough to speak in full sentences.

Slemmer’s mother, May Martinez, said the state owed her an apology following the failed execution. She also expressed concern about preventing further harm.

Earlier this month, a judge reopened Pike’s civil case challenging the use of lethal injection. The legal proceedings could affect what happens next, while her death sentence remains in place unless changed by the courts or state authorities.