Tennessee death row inmate Christa Pike remained unconscious, intubated and on a ventilator on Thursday night. Authorities failed to execute her by lethal injection, according to court filings from her lawyers. Pike, 50, received two lethal doses of pentobarbital on Wednesday. However, she survived the execution attempt. Officials then took her to a hospital by ambulance. Pike remained in critical condition at a Nashville-area hospital. Doctors were treating her and working to remove the drug from her body. Her lawyers are now seeking to commute her death sentence. Pike received the death sentence in 1996 for killing 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer.

Lawyers Seek Evidence From Failed Execution

Pike’s lawyers filed an emergency motion on Friday. They asked authorities to preserve "any and all evidence" linked to the failed execution. The court filing said hospital staff were trying to save Pike’s life. They were also working to clear pentobarbital from her system. Pike’s lawyers said prison officials struggled to insert IV lines. The execution team used at least seven needles during the process. At one point, Pike reportedly showed officials where they could try another IV line. "One needle was bent in a 90-degree angle when it was removed," the filing states. Her lawyers said Pike showed signs of distress during the procedure. While officials gave her the two doses, "she could be heard crying, whimpering, and breathing loudly throughout the procedure", her lawyers said.

Tennessee Suspends Executions

Tennessee Governor Bill Lee ordered an independent review of the failed execution. He also halted all executions in the state for the rest of the year. The Tennessee Department of Correction defended the procedure. The department said "the protocol does not allow for additional procedures beyond what was carried out". Authorities have not said whether they will make another attempt to execute Pike. They have also not explained what caused the procedure to fail. Pike’s lawyers had warned about problems with the execution method before the attempt. They pointed to her thrombocytosis, a condition that can cause blood clots. They also said Pike has small veins. Her lawyers warned that these conditions could cause "unnecessary" pain and suffering during the lethal injection.

Lawyers Question IV Placement

Pike’s lawyers have raised serious questions about the IV lines used during the execution. They allege that "at no point did any member of the execution team realise that the IV lines were not correctly placed or that the veins had blown and that the pentobarbital was, in whole or in part, entering Ms Pike's body". The lawyers want authorities to preserve all evidence from the execution. This includes physical, written and electronic evidence. Dr Joel Zivot, an anaesthesiologist advising Pike’s defence team, said the two pentobarbital doses should have killed her if the drug had entered her bloodstream normally. Zivot said "she would have surely died" if the drug had reached her bloodstream through normal circulation. He said the only possible explanation for her survival "is that the pentobarbital blood level was never high enough to cause death". Zivot also pointed to blisters on Pike’s arm after the failed execution. He said they could indicate that a vein had ruptured. He suggested that the drug may have spread into the tissue beneath her skin instead of entering her bloodstream. Pike’s thrombocytosis may have also affected the injection. Zivot said blood clots could have formed around the injection site. Those clots could have blocked the drug from entering her veins. Zivot also discussed the possibility that the pentobarbital had degraded. He said poor manufacturing or improper storage could cause such a problem.

Courts Rejected Attempts to Stop Execution

The execution went ahead after Pike’s lawyers made several last-minute legal challenges. The US Supreme Court rejected two separate attempts to stop the lethal injection. Governor Bill Lee also rejected Pike’s clemency request. Pike is the only woman on Tennessee’s death row.

Pike Was Sentenced for 1995 Murder

Pike was 18 when she and her then-boyfriend, Tadaryl Shipp, killed 19-year-old Slemmer in 1995. The pair beat and tortured Slemmer before killing her, according to the case against them. The killing attracted major media attention in Knoxville, Tennessee. A year later, a court sentenced Pike to death. Before the murder, Pike accused Slemmer of insulting her. She also accused Slemmer of trying to take her boyfriend. Shipp was 17 when the murder occurred. Tennessee law prevented the state from giving him the death penalty because he was a minor. A court instead sentenced him to life in prison with the possibility of parole. He remains in prison. *Disclaimer: This article contains details that some readers may find distressing but this is only for information purpose.