In brief
Emergency call recordings and transcripts uncovered a chaotic night at Riverbend Prison when the state attempted to execute Christa Pike with lethal injection. Miscommunication delayed a medical response and the pentobarbital dose failed to kill Pike. The incident has halted Tennessee’s executions for the year, triggered investigations, and raised questions over execution protocols. Pike’s lawyers claim the drug spread subcutaneously, while the state is reviewing procedures for possible future attempts.
By James FitzGerald
Emergency call records have exposed confusion among prison staff and emergency responders after a failed execution attempt on convicted murderer Christa Pike in Tennessee. Pike, 50, who participated in the 1995 murder of Colleen Slemmer, was given two doses of lethal injection on 30 September. When it became clear she was not dying, she was transported to the hospital.
The recordings, released by the Nashville Banner, show a first call from Riverbend Prison made at 20:40 local time that was initially deemed “false” by first responders because the caller could not verify the code. The voice on the line claimed that the execution had started, the pentobarbital dose had been given, and an ambulance was required.
Officials at the prison’s central command initially denied having placed the call, saying they would have “been the ones to call in.” It was not until 21:11 that the emergency communication center confirmed that the call was genuine and allowed responders through the gates. By then, the chaotic situation had already delayed medical treatment.
A later call, made at 21:34 as Pike was being moved to the hospital, acknowledged the confusion and requested that the prison be notified of her location to avoid further mishaps.
Pike’s legal team says the pentobarbital spread under the skin instead of entering the bloodstream, preventing the intended lethal effect. She has now been discharged from the hospital, though her attorneys predict a long road to recovery, and it remains unclear whether Tennessee will try to execute her again.
The state has halted all executions for the rest of the year and is investigating the failure. The head of the Tennessee Corrections Department announced his resignation following the incident. A mother of one of Pike’s victims publicly called the botched execution a “mess.”
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