Execution of Christa Pike in Tennessee failed after two lethal injections

Christa Pike, who was sentenced to death, survived two lethal injections. The execution of the 50-year-old convicted murderer has failed for the time being and raises many questions. Reporters were able to follow parts of the process in a high-security prison in the US state of Tennessee.

Kim Chandler of the AP news agency describes what she saw after the two injections: "Pike was strapped to a stretcher and was snoring loudly and rhythmically. She also appeared to gasp for air a few times. She was clearly still alive - longer than expected."

Pike was then taken to a hospital. According to her lawyer, she is in critical condition and is receiving life-saving treatment. It is not yet clear whether Pike will survive.

Lawyer reports numerous mishaps

Her lawyer Randy Spivey is calling for his client's death penalty to be overturned and for her to be imprisoned for life instead. Pike endured a harsher sentence than any other person in the history of the American death penalty, Spivey said. He reports that there were numerous mishaps during the attempted execution. He counted seven punctures on Pike's left arm alone before an intravenous line could be established. Her right arm also turned purple during the injection.

University of Richmond law professor Corinna Barrett Lain is not surprised by these mishaps. She has been concerned with executions in the USA for a long time. "The error rate for executions by lethal injection is twice as high as any other method. It's between seven and eight percent. In 2022 it was almost forty percent. So it happens - and in Tennessee it was the second time."

Executions suspended in Tennessee

An execution had already failed in Tennessee in May of this year. The prison staff, who had no medical training, were unable to provide access to the death row prisoner. However, Pike is the first person in the United States to survive an execution after the toxic injections were administered.

Tennessee's Republican Governor Bill Lee has now suspended all executions scheduled for this year and ordered an investigation. Law professor Lain hopes that the incident will trigger a much more fundamental debate and that the cruel executions will be stopped altogether.

Professor: There is no such thing as “humane” killing

"The myth about lethal injections is that it would be like euthanizing a pet," says Lain. "It's not like that at all. We see in autopsy reports that people suffocate, sometimes for one, two or three hours."

“Humane killing” is a contradiction in terms, says Lain. It always requires violence to end a life - the body struggles before it is ready to give up on its own. "If you're asking is there a humane way to take life? Yes, it's called life without parole."