In short:
The lawyer of death row inmate Christa Pike says he saw a "bent" needle being removed from her arm after a botched execution in Tennessee.
asserted
needle → say → Tennessee
Pike, 50, received two doses of lethal injection drug pentobarbital before being rushed to hospital.
What's next?
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What → receive → hospital
Pike's attorney's have called for a stay of execution as she remains in critical condition, and the state's governor has called for a review.
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governor → call → review
One of at least seven needles inserted into the arm of a death row inmate during a botched execution attempt appeared "bent" when removed, according to her lawyers.
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One → insert → lawyers
Warning: This story contains details that may be distressing for some readers.
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that → contain → readers
Christa Pike, 50, remains in hospital on a ventilator and unconscious according to the latest court filing, after surviving two doses of the lethal injection drug pentobarbital.
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Pike → remain → drug
Pike was sentenced to death in 1996 after the murder of another teenager, Colleen Slemmer, when she was 18 years old.
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she → sentence → teenager
Witnesses to the execution reported Pike was still making noise and "very much alive" when the execution chamber was abruptly closed, and they were ordered to leave the Nashville prison on Wednesday night, local time.
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they → report → night
Pike's lawyer, Randy Spivey, said her arm appeared to "turn purple" after the second dose of the sedative pentobarbital was injected.
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dose → say → pentobarbital
"It is our understanding that there is some blistering and burning around the site of injection right now on her," he said.
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he → be → her
"It took an hour to establish the [intravenous] IV lines … despite the fact Ms Pike was not just cooperative by trying to help instruct [the team].
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Pike → take → team
She over and over again said, 'Please try up on my shoulder, higher.
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She → say → shoulder
I think it will be okay.'
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it → think → ?
"And she thanked them when … they thought they had established the line."
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they → thank → line
For Pike, a survivor of lifelong sexual abuse, how the execution unfolded was "her biggest fear", he added.
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he → unfold → abuse
"That she would be pinned down, prodded, poked, cut for a prolonged period of time, during which she could be reliving her past trauma," he said.
"
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he → pin → trauma
For a traumatised person to be put through this … no-one should have to do this.
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one → put → this
A minute-by-minute timeline of Christa Pike's execution
At 6:41pm, local time, witnesses were led into an antechamber at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville.
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witnesses → lead → Nashville
They were left waiting there for almost an hour, according to WKRN journalist Tori Gastner.
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They → leave → Gastner
Ms Gastner, who has witnessed five Tennessee executions to date, rifled through her notes as she recounted the disorder in the execution chamber.
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she → witness → chamber
"We could hear a little crying and whimpering at times," she said.
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she → hear → times
The curtain opened at 7:26pm for Pike to say her last words, joined by her spiritual advisor.
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Pike → open → advisor
She had been strapped down to the execution gurney and an IV line had been inserted into her right arm.
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line → strap → arm
"She mentioned she was looking forward to being free," Ms Gastner said.
"They were singing … saying, 'I'll go in peace'.
"
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I → mention → peace
At one point, at 7.34, she said, 'My arm feels like it's about to burst open'.
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it → say → 7.34
It was unclear when Pike received the first dose of the drug, but witnesses said she told staff her arm was "really throbbing".
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arm → receive → staff
At 7:37pm, Pike took "four separate significant breaths" deep enough to see her body rising off the gurney.
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body → take → gurney
At 7:39pm, she lifted her head and looked at the IV.
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she → lift → IV
She continued making movements and sounds for several more minutes.
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She → continue → minutes
At 7:46pm, the curtains between the witness room and the execution chamber were closed again, presumably to administer the second dose of pentobarbital.
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curtains → close → pentobarbital
At 7:49pm, they opened again, and Pike was still moving, making sounds and at times rising from the gurney.
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Pike → open → gurney
The curtain was "abruptly" closed for a second time at 8:05pm.
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curtain → close → 8:05pm
Witnesses sat listening to loud breathing and "snoring" for almost 50 minutes before the microphone to the chamber was cut off.
They were then ordered to leave the area by the prison warden.
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They → sit → warden
Tennessee's practice injections and a history of botched executions
A redacted copy of state protocol, published by the Death Penalty Information Center, says prison officials should have been practising for this moment at least twice a week since last month.
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officials → botch → month
That same protocol calls for four syringes, two containing saline solution and two containing pentobarbital, to be administered as part of "Primary Set A".
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syringes → call → A
The saline solution keeps the IV lines open before the pentobarbital is administered.
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pentobarbital → keep → lines
A back-up "Set B" dose was only to be prepared if the inmate was not deceased after Set A was administered.
Pike's lawyers have said they witnessed at least seven syringes being inserted at different times throughout the process.
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syringes → back → process
The protocol does not say what happens if neither dosage is successful.
Pike's was the second botched execution in Tennessee this year, after officials failed to establish an IV line during the execution attempt of inmate Tony Carruthers.
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officials → say → Carruthers
Tennessee updated its execution protocol in 2025, having hired Commissioner Frank Strada in 2023 to oversee the upgrade.
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Tennessee → update → upgrade
While many states use a three-drug lethal injection method, at least 10 states, including Tennessee, use a single pentobarbital method.
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states → use → method
…and 22 more, not listed.
The Aporia
