Court records show IV team used ten needles during failed Pike execution

A court filing released on Thursday provides the most detailed account yet of the failed execution of Christa Pike in Tennessee. The document, submitted by her attorney Randy Spivey, states that the execution team used approximately 10 needles and struggled for nearly an hour to establish working IV lines. Spivey wrote that the team cautioned that some of Pike's veins might have ruptured, or "blown," before the lethal drug was administered.

Pike, 50, survived two doses of pentobarbital when the state attempted to execute her on September 30. She was convicted in 1995 for the stabbing death of her classmate Colleen Slemmer. At the time of the crime, Pike was 18, making her one of the youngest women ever sentenced to death in the state. Following the procedure, she was hospitalized, placed on a ventilator for several days, and eventually returned to prison after regaining consciousness.

The new details emerged in a separate legal case where death row inmates are challenging Tennessee's lethal injection procedures. Kit Thomas, an attorney for the challengers, commented on the filing. "Our predictions about the likelihood of botched executions have come true, and will continue to come true, without substantial change," Thomas said.

According to Spivey, the team began placing the two required IVs at 6:34 p.m. on September 30. An IV was successfully set in Pike's right arm within six minutes. The process for her left arm took nearly an hour. Spivey noted that Pike helped by suggesting the team look in her upper arm for a usable vein. He wrote that she was "wincing and grimacing" as team members moved needles around in her left arm.

During the struggle, team members expressed doubts about the state of the veins. At 6:57 p.m., one member said a vein "might be blowing," though two others could not confirm. A later needle appeared severely bent when removed. At 7:07 p.m., a team member stated, "I think it's blown." The team declared the IV successfully placed in her left arm at 7:13 p.m.

Phone calls to the execution chamber began about five minutes after the IV was placed. Spivey said that team members pushing the drug from an adjoining room appeared to ask the IV team to check Pike's left arm repeatedly. It is unclear exactly when the pentobarbital entered the lines. At 7:34 p.m., Pike said, "I feel like my arm is about to bust. It burns." She continued speaking with her spiritual adviser for about 10 minutes before making an "agitated snoring sound."

Over the next 30 minutes, Spivey reported that Pike strained, flinched, moved her head, and appeared to struggle to breathe. When Spivey asked to use a phone to contact other attorneys, he was not allowed to use the phone in the witness room. Instead, he was taken on a seven-minute route through the facility. At 8:22 p.m., he called his colleagues and asked them to stop the execution, noting that a third dose is not authorized under state protocol. He also told the deputy attorney general that Pike needed immediate medical care.

Tennessee's protocol requires a second dose of pentobarbital if the first does not cause death. The rules do not specify what should happen if a person survives the second injection. Spivey was told at 8:50 p.m. that an ambulance was on the way. About 20 minutes later, he was informed that medical staff were performing life-saving measures. An ambulance arrived at the hospital at 9:14 p.m.