Death row convict Christa Pike survives execution in Tennessee

Christa Pike, sentenced to death, survived an execution by lethal injection in the US state of Tennessee. According to her lawyers, the 50-year-old is unconscious, intubated and connected to a ventilator. As the New York Times reports, citing a court document, doctors in a hospital in Nashville are currently trying to save her life and remove the drug pentobarbital used in the execution from her body.

Pike's lawyers believe there was a mistake in administering the lethal injection. In a court filing, they wrote, "At no time does it appear that any member of the execution team was aware that the IV tubes were improperly placed or that the veins had ruptured and that all or part of the pentobarbital was entering Ms. Pike's body."

According to lawyers, Pike is in critical condition. Hospital staff are working to save her life and remove the lethal dose from her body.

The failed execution has political consequences. Governor Bill Lee suspended all further executions for the rest of the year and ordered an external investigation into the incident.

The outcome of the execution came as a shock to the victim's relatives. Pike was sentenced to death in 1996 for the murder of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer. She committed the crime in 1995 at the age of 18.

Colleen's mother, May Martinez, told AP news agency she was disappointed and angry. "I didn't get justice for my daughter. I had to watch the whole thing. She (Christa Pike, editor) was awake, she was laughing, she was moving her head, moving her feet. She was trying to sit up. When they gave her the first shot, it didn't work. The second time it didn't work either, so now she's in the hospital and alive."

They didn't say anything and then, all of a sudden, they asked all the victims' relatives to leave

In an interview with NBC News, Martinez sharply criticized the authorities. When asked about her message to the governor of Tennessee and the attorney general, she replied: “You screwed up!” She continued: "They didn't say anything and then, all of a sudden, they asked all the victims' relatives to leave. We didn't know anything until we got up to the office and saw the head of the Department of Corrections."

Martinez lives in Florida and said he had launched a fundraising appeal to finance the trip to Nashville, more than 1,000 kilometers away. She told station WJXX that the state owed her “a sincere apology.”

Colleen's stepfather Raul Martinez also criticized the authorities. He wrote on Facebook that his stepdaughter's soul "cannot rest" until her murderer is dead. Pike will “haunt Colleen’s journey to heaven until she disappears from the scene.”

In recent years, Pike's lawyers have increasingly focused their efforts on her difficult childhood, mental illness and her development during decades in prison. What will happen legally after the failed execution is currently unclear.