Tennessee death row inmate Christa Pike survives botched lethal-injection, family says she was "ready to go"

Christa Pike, 50, was scheduled to become the first woman executed in Tennessee in more than 200 years when a lethal-injection protocol on Sept. 30 failed, leaving her breathing and requiring transport to a hospital. Witnesses said she began snoring after receiving two doses of pentobarbital before emergency personnel moved her to an ambulance.

Pike had been convicted of the 1995 torture and murder of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer and was on death row for the crime. After the botched procedure, her legal team reported that she was initially unconscious and in critical condition, with doctors fearing she might be brain-dead. However, she regained consciousness, began walking and speaking, and is now receiving treatment for a blood clot, pneumonia and limited arm mobility.

Her attorneys have asked Governor Bill Lee to commute her sentence, arguing that the failed execution inflicted punishment beyond any precedent in U.S. capital-punishment history. They also noted that the procedure involved at least seven needles, one of which allegedly bent at a 90-degree angle in her arm.

"She didn’t want the stay. She was ready to go. She was at peace. She had accepted that whatever happened was not in her control. It was in God’s control," said Carrie Ross, Pike’s aunt, to the Daily Mail.

The U.S. Supreme Court lifted a stay of execution that had been granted by the Tennessee Court of Appeals just hours before the scheduled time, allowing the execution to proceed before the malfunction occurred.