Tennessee execution team feared inmate’s vein had ‘blown’ during failed lethal injection

Members of the execution team tasked with putting Tennessee death row inmate Christa Pike to death repeatedly questioned whether they had damaged her veins while trying to establish an intravenous (IV) line, according to a detailed account by her lawyer.

The team used about 10 needles and spent nearly 50 minutes attempting to establish a working line before proceeding with the lethal injection on Sept. 30, attorney Randy Spivey said in a court filing, according to The Guardian.

Team members expressed concern that Pike’s vein might have “blown,” meaning it had ruptured, and struggled to determine whether the needle had reached the vein, according to Spivey, who witnessed the execution attempt.

Despite the difficulties, the team proceeded with the injection. Pike remained alive, making snoring and choking sounds before the execution was called off.

Pike, 50, spent 10 days in hospital before returning to prison in Nashville. Although she has regained the ability to walk and talk, her long-term medical prognosis remains unclear.

The failed execution has intensified scrutiny of Tennessee’s lethal injection procedures. Republican Gov. Bill Lee suspended executions in the state pending a review.

The case has also drawn attention to the attempted execution of another death row inmate, Tony Carruthers, who survived an execution attempt in May after officials struggled to find a vein.

Lawyers representing death row prisoners say the cases highlighted serious flaws in the state’s execution protocol and have renewed their legal challenge, arguing that the procedures risk causing severe pain and suffering.

Pike was sentenced to death for the 1995 murder of Colleen Slemmer, a classmate she killed when she was 18.