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Christa Pike’s last words before hospitalization after she survived two lethal injection attempts in botched execution
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The final words of Christa Pike before she survived two execution attempts on Wednesday (September 30) have been revealed.
The 50-year-old was set to become the first woman in over 200 years to be executed in Tennessee, before a couple of botched attempts at administering the lethal injection.
Yesterday, Pike was granted a stay of execution just minutes before her scheduled execution time, before the Supreme Court ruled that the killing could go ahead.
Pike's attorneys say she is being treated in a hospital, unsure of her condition, as a spokesperson for the Tennessee Department of Corrections confirmed she was ’transported to an off-site medical facility’.
Following the botched attempts, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee suspended all remaining scheduled executions this year, ordering a 'comprehensive, third-party review to determine exactly what occurred'.
Christa Pike's last words
Before being given two doses of the lethal injection, it was reported that Pike delivered her intended final words before singing a song.
According to FOX 5, the curtains to the execution chamber opened at 7.27PM, where Pike was strapped to a gurney with an IV line in her arm, through which she was given the lethal injection containing pentobarbital.
Pike then delivered her last words, saying: "I just want to say that I'm going to leave this world the way I spent most of my life, and that is with love.
"I'm at peace, and I'm ready to go," before singing 'I Love You So Much' with a male spiritual advisor, who patted her head.
It was reported that after both syringes were administered, she had 'not lost consciousness and still has a heartbeat,' and was 'audibly snoring'.
Things didn't go to plan, as May Martinez, the mother of Pike's victim Colleen Slemmer, described it as 'a mess'.
“They went to try to execute her, and she didn’t die,” Slemmer's mom said, adding of the Department of Corrections: “They didn’t say anything, and then, all of a sudden, they asked all the witnesses to leave. And we left.”
She added: “We didn’t know anything until we got up to the office and saw the commissioner,
“And he said that it didn’t work, that it didn’t work, and she’s on her way to the hospital.”
Summarizing the incident, she stated that ‘they f***ed up’.
Tennessee Governor reveals next steps
In response, Gov. Lee announced that the state's remaining scheduled execution for the year would not go ahead while officials investigate what happened, with Lee claiming he had ordered 'a comprehensive, third-party review to determine exactly what occurred.'
He added: “Carrying out a lawfully imposed sentence is among the State's most serious responsibilities, and the people of Tennessee expect it to be done in a manner that is not only legal and constitutional, but is effective.”
The Tennessee Department of Correction, meanwhile, insisted that officials had followed the established procedure, announcing in a statement that the department had “followed every step of the State's lawful, established execution protocol approved by the Attorney General's Office.”