Christa Pike was set to receive a lethal injection at Nashville's Riverbend Maximum Security Institution Sept. 30 and become the first woman to be executed in Tennessee in 200 years.
Instead, Pike was taken to a nearby hospital after two failed doses of pentobarbital. According to her attorneys, she still had a heartbeat and could be heard snoring. Pike, the only woman on Tennessee's death row, was convicted and sentenced to death for the 1995 killing of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer in Knoxville.
Following the failed execution attempt, Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee announced a pause on all executions for the remainder of the year and has called for a "comprehensive, third-party review" of Pike's execution.
As of early Oct. 1, Pike's condition and whereabouts
are unclear. Here's what else to know.
Who is Christa Pike?
Pike was a student at the Knoxville Job Corps, a federal job training program, when she brutally killed fellow student Colleen Slemmer in 1995.
Born in West Virginia in 1976, Pike had an extremelytraumatic upbringing marked by violence, sexual abuse and substance abuse. Her attorneys say she developed severe mental illness as a result.
Pike has been on death row at Debra K. Johnson Rehabilitation Center in Nashville since she was convicted in 1996. While in prison in 2001, she attempted to kill another incarcerated woman, Patricia Jones, by strangling her with a shoestring. She was convicted of attempted murder in 2004.
About a month before her scheduled execution, Pike's attorneys argued during a three-day hearing in Knoxville that herblood disorder, thrombocytosis, and difficult-to-access veins could make a lethal injection especially painful.
Defense expert Dr. Joel Zivot testified that Pike could experience severe pain and that problems accessing her veins could prolong the procedure. The state countered with testimony from hematologist Dr. Richard Mansour, who said Pike's recent medical records showed her veins were accessible and that most blood draws required only a single needle stick.
Senior Judge Mark Ward, a special master appointed by the Tennessee Supreme Court, ultimately rejected most of Pike's claims, finding insufficient evidence that her condition would create a substantial risk of severe pain during the execution.
What did Christa Pike do to end up in death row?
While attending Job Corps in Knoxville, Pike began dating fellow student Tadaryl Shipp. Prosecutors said Pike and friend Shadolla Peterson plotted to kill Slemmer after Pike became convinced she was trying to seduce Shipp.
On Jan. 12, 1995, the three students lured Slemmer to Knoxville's Tyson Park, where she was beaten and tortured before Pike delivered the fatal blow. Court records show the attack included carving a pentagram into Slemmer's chest, and Pike later took a fragment of the victim's skull.
Slemmer's body was discovered the next morning by two University of Tennessee employees.
During the investigation, prosecutors said Pike bragged about the killing and showed other Job Corps students the skull fragment as proof of what she had done.
Pike and Shipp were arrested three days after the murder. Peterson later agreed to testify against them and received six years of probation.
When was Christa Pike sentenced? What was she charged with?
Pike confessed to the crime and was convicted of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder at trial on March 22, 1996. She was sentenced to death by electrocution on March 30, 1996.
What happens to Christa Pike now?
For now, Pike's execution is not expected to resume.
"There will be a stay of hers and all executions under my watch through the end of the year going forward," Lee said to reporters during a media availability event on Oct. 1. Lee said during a media availability event Oct. 1. Lee ordered a third-party review of what went wrong, postponing any executions until that process is complete.
Pike's future could also be decided in court, with judges weighing whether Tennessee can legally attempt another execution and what impact the failed procedure will have on her death sentence.
Pike's status and location were unclear early on Oct. 1, as neither the Tennessee Department of Corrections nor Gov. Lee's office responded to USA TODAY's request for an update.
Vanderbilt University Medical Center spokesperson John Howser told The Tennessean that Pike would receive treatment at a hospital but did not disclose which one.
Contributing: Evan Mealins, Peter Burditt, Keith Sharon
Diana Leyva covers trending news and service journalism for The Tennessean. Contact her at Dleyva@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Why was Christa Pike set to be executed? Case made her only woman on TN death row
