Christa Pike: Execution Update

Sarah brings us an update following the failed execution of Christa Pike.

More drama surrounded this case this week, after a last-minute stay of execution was issued and then promptly overturned, and then the execution itself did not go as planned, and Christa Pike remains alive.

What went wrong and why?

What does this mean for Christa Pike, the state of Tennessee and future scheduled executions?

We bring you all the facts and a detailed timeline of what occurred this past Wednesday, the day of her scheduled execution.

⚠️ Content warning: This episode discusses the death penalty, and extremely disturbing details of physical suffering following a failed execution.

Transcript

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Hello, all you true crime divas and dudes. Sarah here with an In the Headlines update on the Christa Pike execution. Tina will be back for our regular episode, or maybe another In the Headlines, as there's some wild stuff going on out there, y'all. And man, has it been a crazy week for this story. But before we get into this update, I want to give you a strong content warning. I will be discussing death penalty and some extremely disturbing details of failed execution attempts, including graphic descriptions of physical suffering, struggling to breathe, and more. If that kind of content is particularly upsetting to you, you might wanna skip this episode. So, as we reported last week, Christa Pike is on death row in Tennessee and was scheduled to be executed last Wednesday, September 30th. Her legal team had submitted a last-minute clemency petition at the beginning of September, and on Monday, September 28th, Governor Lee made a statement concerning his decision on that clemency petition. He said, "After deliberate consideration of Christa Gail Pike's request for clemency and after a thorough review of the case, I am upholding the sentence of the State of Tennessee, and I do not plan to intervene." At that time, the execution still remained scheduled for 10:00 AM Central Time on Wednesday morning. Christa had contacted her loved ones and asked them not to attend her execution. And May Martinez, who is the mother of Christa's victim, Colleen Slemmer, was planning on driving the nine hours from Jacksonville, Florida to attend the execution in Nashville, Tennessee. Christa would be the first woman executed in the State of Tennessee in over 200 years. However, in the 11th hour, at around 9:00 AM on Wednesday morning, a temporary stay of execution was issued by the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals to review her existing appeals further. That stay lasted all of nine hours when, at 6:00 PM on Wednesday, the Supreme Court vacated the stay, and the State of Tennessee was given the go-ahead to move forward with the execution. Around 50 minutes later, at approximately 6:15 PM, prison officials started prepping Christa for her execution. Now, what normally takes around 10 minutes took them over an hour trying to insert needles for the IVs, with at least seven needles being discarded. One even came out bent after it had to be extracted. And this was no surprise to Christa's legal team, who had spent months stating that a medical condition that Christa suffers from would make the standard lethal injection procedure dangerous for her. At one point, they had even put in a request for hanging. But due to the fact that hanging is not a legal form of execution in Tennessee and has not been for over 100 years, that request wasn't even considered. Now, when she was first sentenced to death 30 years ago, Christa was given a choice between electrocution and lethal injection. But at the time, she did not have any medical conditions, and she selected the lethal injection. Christa has since been diagnosed with thrombocytosis, which causes high platelet levels and causes the blood to clot very easily. Along with this clotting condition, Pike has a history of compromised veins that could literally burst under pressure. Now, should that happen, any drugs meant to enter the blood intravenously would enter the surrounding tissue instead. The particular drugs used for lethal injection, when seeped into surrounding tissue, would cause a very painful chemical burn and could also have a negative effect on a person's lungs. So let's go back to the evening of the execution. At 6:41 PM, witnesses are allowed to enter the observation room. At 7:26 PM, the curtains are opened to the death chamber, and those in attendance could see Christa Pike strapped to the gurney with an IV line already placed in her right arm. Christa gave what she thought would be her last words when she said, "I just want to say that I'm going to leave this world the way I spent my life, and that is with love." Around 7:30 PM, the first dose of pentobarbital was administered. At 7:31, Christa tells staff that her arm hurts and asks if that's normal. At 7:34, she says, "It's really throbbing now, and it feels like it's gonna burst." At 7:46, by which time she would be expected to be unconscious, Christa starts to struggle and groan and make what appear to be snoring sounds, and the curtains are closed. At 7:49, the curtains are raised again, and a second dose of pentobarbital is administered to Christa, who continues to snore loudly. At 7:51, she appears to be choking. At 7:54, she lifts her head and grunts. At 7:56, her body arches completely, and her head and legs start to contort. And at 8:05, she starts to gasp for air, and the curtains are closed again. For the following 45-plus minutes, the observation room witnesses continue to hear gasps and snoring and sounds from Christa while her legal team file an emergency motion to halt the execution, and the execution is halted. By this time, Christa's arm is purple and blistered, and she is alive but unconscious and still making sounds. She is rushed to an undisclosed hospital in Nashville, where she is intubated and put on a ventilator. Medical professionals are now working to clear the pentobarbital from her system, treating the injuries to both arms, and are following her closely for signs of possible brain damage and organ failure. While she is hospitalized, she will be treated like any other patient. So now let's talk about the aftermath of all of this. The governor of Tennessee, Bill Lee, has now halted all executions scheduled for the rest of the year pending an investigation. That gives a temporary reprieve to Gary Wayne Sutton, whose execution was scheduled for December 3rd. The governor has also commissioned a third party to investigate what happened. Now, will they attempt to execute Christa Pike again once the ban is lifted? Well, Christa's attorneys argue that forcing her to undergo a second attempt violates her constitutional protection against cruel and unusual punishment, and they have petitioned Governor Lee to commute her sentence to life in prison as a result. Also, on Friday, October 2nd, Pike's defense team asked for all evidence, including needles and the IV tubes, to be preserved to investigate possible improper handling. Now, this is Tennessee's second failed execution this year. In May 2026, Tony Carruthers' execution also failed after an hour of trying to get a good IV line, and he remains paralyzed to this day on his right-hand side and in constant pain as a result. His sister is currently pursuing a medical malpractice and torture lawsuit. As a result of Christa Pike's failed execution on Wednesday, the Tennessee Department of Corrections Commissioner, Frank Strader, has resigned. He stated that it was in the best interest of Tennessee as the independent reviews move forward. Now, what about May Martinez, Colleen Slemmer's mother, who drove from Florida to witness the execution of her daughter's killer? Well, May and her husband arrived at the facility at 8:30 AM, expecting a 10:00 AM execution, and they were moved around various holding rooms until 8:00 PM, when they were then escorted out of the building. Martinez has expressed her anger and frustration to the media, calling the whole execution process a mess and demanding an apology from the state of Tennessee, which she is yet to receive. Now, whether you believe in the death penalty or not, I think we all understand that this family have waited 30 years for closure, and they have been denied it in the most harrowing way. But also, Christa has basic human rights, and if executions cannot be carried out without violating those, do they still even have a place in society? This is a sad story from start to current situation, and we don't even know what's to come yet. But for one, I think that this is just absolutely ridiculous. The whole system needs some kind of overhaul and needs to be brought up to date. What do you guys think? Until next time, be divas, not deadly. Bye.