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911 call from Christa Pike's botched execution has been released
A 911 call from Christa Pike's botched execution has been released after she survived two doses of the lethal injection.
Pike, 50, was convicted in 1995 of the murder of her college classmate Colleen Slemmer, after luring her into a wooded area where she tortured and eventually killed her.
The prisoner was due to be executed at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution on September 30 after spending 30 years on death row, but shortly before, the US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit ordered that her execution be paused.
The court believed she should be allowed to challenge her sentence's legality. Pike’s attorneys then asked the U.S. Supreme Court to keep the pause while a federal appeals court reviewed a new legal challenge.
However, that evening, the Supreme Court said the execution could proceed. But things soon took a dramatic turn when officials struggled to establish an intravenous line for the two doses of pentobarbital.
Witnesses claim that at least seven needles had been used, with one allegedly emerging from her arm bent.
911 call from Pike's failed execution was released
Authorities released the transcript of the call made from Riverbend Maximum Security Institution after the botched death sentence.
The Nashville Department of Emergency Communications, or DEC, first received notification of the incident at 8:40PM, just over an hour after the attempted lethal injection got underway, but the caller was unable to provide a code to help verify the request's legitimacy.
Prison workers can be heard saying they "would have been the ones to call in" and they "did not make that call," as cited by Metro.
A first responder at the scene trying to enter the prison can then be heard saying: "Somebody is outside the gate at the prison telling us that it’s real and demanding us to go in. They say they are some sort of state official. I need somebody to get out to the gate and talk to those people."
One of Pike’s lawyers, Kelly Gleason, made another call at 9.08PM, stating that her client needs assistance.
"My client, Christa Gail Pike, is undergoing a state execution. She has completed the stages of the protocol, and last we knew from the attorney who is present, she is still alive and breathing and needs immediate life-saving care," she said.
It took half an hour from the first call for the prison to confirm the request for help was real at 9.11PM, and emergency services were finally allowed to enter the premises.
Pike was being rushed to the hospital at 9.34PM when a paramedic can be heard telling the 911 operator to make sure the prison knew they were taking her.
"Just because there’s been so much other confusion, I want to make sure they are aware of this," they added.
The Nashville Department of Emergency Communications released the redacted calls, except the first call, which is exempt from public disclosure, two weeks after Pike survived her lethal injections.
"While recognizing this exemption, DEC has made a good-faith effort to provide additional information by preparing a written account of the initial call based on a review of the audio recording," a spokesperson for DEC said.
Despite receiving the second dose of pentobarbital, Pike remained alive, with witnesses saying she was heard snoring before she was rushed to the hospital.
She spent several days unconscious, raising serious concerns about whether she would recover.
However, Pike eventually woke up and was able to speak and even stand.
She has since been discharged back to Tennessee's Deborah K. Johnson Rehabilitation Centre, where she has spent the last three decades.
The unprecedented incident has prompted Tennessee Governor Bill Lee to pause all remaining executions this year and order an independent review into what went wrong.
It has not been revealed if Pike will face another execution or if she has earned a reprieve.