Execution Team Used Ten Needles Before Injecting Pike

Tennessee execution team members used approximately 10 needles to establish intravenous lines in Christa Pike's arms before injecting her with lethal drugs on September 30, according to a court filing submitted Thursday. The document provides a minute-by-minute account of the medical procedures that preceded the administration of pentobarbital. It details a nearly hour-long struggle to place the second required IV line in Pike's left arm.

Attorney Randy Spivey, who represented Pike during the procedure, wrote that the team initially struggled to find a usable vein. While an IV was successfully placed in Pike's right arm in about six minutes, the left arm required nearly an hour of attempts. Spivey noted that Pike assisted by suggesting the team look in her upper arm. He described her as wincing and grimacing as staff moved needles around, with team members frequently voicing doubts about their progress.

The filing records specific warnings from the medical staff regarding the condition of Pike's veins. At 6:57 p.m., one member stated a vein might be blowing, though two others could not confirm. A later needle appeared severely bent upon removal. By 7:07 p.m., a team member declared, I think it's blown. The group decided at 7:13 p.m. that an IV had been successfully placed, allowing the execution to proceed.

Pike, 50, survived the initial dose of pentobarbital and required a second dose under Tennessee protocol. She has since been discharged from the hospital and returned to prison. During the procedure, Pike told the IV team that her arm was burning and felt like it would bust. Spivey reported that she later produced an agitated snoring sound while speaking with a spiritual adviser. Over the following 30 minutes, she strained and appeared to struggle to breathe.

Spivey contacted other attorneys at 8:22 p.m. to request a halt to the execution, noting that a third dose is not authorized. He also informed the deputy attorney general that Pike required immediate medical care. An ambulance arrived at the hospital at 9:14 p.m. Kit Thomas, an attorney in a separate case challenging lethal injection procedures, stated that predictions of botched executions have come true without substantial change.

The state's protocol mandates a second dose of pentobarbital if the first does not cause death but does not specify actions if a person survives the second injection. Pike was convicted of the 1995 stabbing death of Colleen Slemmer. She was 18 at the time of the crime and became one of the youngest women sentenced to death in Tennessee history.