Christa Pike still alive after two lethal injections as Tennessee suspends executions

Tennessee's plan to carry out the first execution of a woman in more than 200 years has ended in confusion after Christa Pike was given two lethal injections and remained alive, according to her lawyers and witnesses. The state has not announced a time of death. Pike's condition is unclear, and her lawyer says she has been taken to hospital. The governor of Tennessee has suspended all further executions.

Pike, 50, had spent about 30 years on death row. She was convicted of murdering 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer in Knoxville in 1995, when Pike was 18. She and her boyfriend were convicted in a killing described as brutal; a satanic symbol was carved into the victim's chest. Pike was sentenced to death the following year and became the youngest person on death row at that time.

The legal process moved quickly and then reversed. On Monday, Tennessee's governor denied a request for clemency, saying he would not intervene. The US Supreme Court rejected a last-ditch attempt to stop the execution. On the day she was due to be executed at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville, an appeals court stayed the execution, but the Supreme Court vacated that stay. She was then given a lethal injection using pentobarbital. When the first dose did not work, a second was administered.

Witnesses described a deeply disturbing scene. They said the blinds to the execution chamber were lowered and raised. By the time the blinds went down for the second time at 8:05, Pike was still breathing, at points rhythmically, and at times the breathing appeared laboured. Some witnesses said she was snoring. They said they could not see what happened after the blinds came down. Journalists outside the prison saw emergency vehicles arrive as they gave their accounts to the media. One witness said: "When we left the building, so far as we knew, she was probably still alive."

Pike's lawyers say she has not lost consciousness and still has a heartbeat. Prison officials have not announced a time of death. Tennessee authorities have not explained why she remained alive after witnesses said she appeared to receive two doses of the drug. Questions remain about whether the problem was the drug, how it was administered, or another part of the procedure. Major pharmaceutical companies have restricted the use of pentobarbital in executions in the United States.

Before the scheduled execution, Pike said: "I'm not afraid to die. I'm only nervous about the process." Her spiritual advisor was with her, and she said: "I'm at peace and I'm ready to go."

The case has drawn attention because executions of women are rare. Pike would have been the first woman executed by Tennessee in 200 years. Her supporters argued that her trial jury never heard important mitigating evidence. They say she was a victim of horrific sexual abuse from as early as two years old and suffered repeated abuse before the crime. Her lawyers argued that this should have been considered before a death sentence was imposed. The victim's mother is adamant that the punishment should go ahead. An ACLU lawyer said Pike's abuse history did not excuse the crime but helped explain it.

Medical experts have also questioned lethal injection. Dr Joel Zivot, an assistant professor of anesthesiology at Emory University, said lethal injection is an impersonation of a medical act. He said the US Constitution does not require punishment to be humane, only not cruel. He said he has reviewed autopsies of hundreds of people executed by lethal injection and found fluid in their lungs, which he said would feel like drowning if the person were conscious. He said the state claims without evidence that the procedure is fine.

The execution had been due to take place despite earlier legal setbacks for Pike. A last-minute stay had briefly raised hopes that it would not go ahead. The state sought to have the stay lifted, and the Supreme Court cleared the way. But after the injections, the planned execution became a medical and legal crisis instead.

The current status: Pike remains alive, according to her lawyers, and her condition is unclear. The governor has suspended all further executions. Tennessee officials face calls to explain what happened inside the prison.