That is the extraordinary question now surrounding Christa Pike after Tennessee administered two rounds of lethal-injection drugs — yet she was still alive.
Christa Pike, 50, had spent around three decades on death row before being brought into the execution chamber at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution for the 1995 murder of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer.
She was set to become Tennessee’s first woman executed in more than two centuries, according to historical records.
But after receiving two rounds of lethal-injection drugs, Pike did not die.
She was instead transported to an off-site medical facility, according to a Tennessee Department of Correction spokesperson cited by NBC News. Her attorneys later confirmed that she was being treated at a hospital, although they said they did not yet know her condition.
The execution began shortly after 7:26 p.m. on September 30, but witnesses soon realized that the procedure was not unfolding as expected.
Then, around 7:34 p.m., Pike reportedly said:
“My arm feels like it’s about to burst open.”
She then asked:
“Does this happen like that?”
The curtain was eventually closed, leaving witnesses unable to see what was happening inside — but some said they could still hear Pike breathing and making noises that sounded like snoring.
Christa Pike, 50, had spent around three decades on death row before being brought into the execution chamber at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution for the 1995 murder of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer.
She was set to become Tennessee’s first woman executed in more than two centuries, according to historical records.
But after receiving two rounds of lethal-injection drugs, Pike did not die.
She was instead transported to an off-site medical facility, according to a Tennessee Department of Correction spokesperson cited by NBC News. Her attorneys later confirmed that she was being treated at a hospital, although they said they did not yet know her condition.
The execution began shortly after 7:26 p.m. on September 30, but witnesses soon realized that the procedure was not unfolding as expected.
Then, around 7:34 p.m., Pike reportedly said:
“My arm feels like it’s about to burst open.”
She then asked:
“Does this happen like that?”
The curtain was eventually closed, leaving witnesses unable to see what was happening inside — but some said they could still hear Pike breathing and making noises that sounded like snoring.
