Update on Christa Pike: Doctor Fears Lasting Brain Damage After Two Doses Failed to Kill Her

Christa Pike remains hospitalized after surviving two attempts to execute her by lethal injection, and a doctor who has been involved with her legal team has now explained what the ordeal could mean for her long-term health.

Doctor Warns Christa Pike May Have Brain Damage After Surviving Two Lethal Injections

Christa Pike is still in the hospital after Tennessee’s attempt to execute her failed, and a physician connected to her case says the ordeal may have left her with lasting harm.

Dr. Joel Zivot, a professor at Emory University School of Medicine who has worked with Pike’s legal team, told the BBC that she could have suffered a brain injury because of how long it took for anyone to begin resuscitating her.

What went wrong

Pike, 50, was scheduled to die on September 30, which would have made her the first woman executed in Tennessee in more than two centuries. She was sentenced to death in 1996 for the brutal 1995 murder of Colleen Slemmer, a fellow student at a Knoxville job training center.

Strapped to a gurney, she was given two full doses of pentobarbital. Neither one killed her. Her attorney said she was still alive after the second syringe and could be heard snoring loudly.

Witnesses described her feet kicking while she was restrained. At about 7:34 p.m., Pike reportedly said, “My arm feels like it is about to burst open,” and then asked staff whether that was supposed to happen.

She was later moved to an outside medical facility, the Tennessee Department of Correction confirmed.

State stands by its process

The department insists it did nothing wrong, saying it followed every step of its execution protocol as approved by the Attorney General’s Office and that the drug has reliably worked in the past.

Pike’s lawyers see it very differently. In a statement, they said Tennessee had once again failed to carry out a lawful execution, pointing to the collapsed lethal injection of Tony Carruthers in May.

For now, Pike remains hospitalized, and serious questions remain about what happened inside the chamber and whether the prolonged attempt has done permanent damage to her health.