Recordings of emergency calls made after the failed attempt to execute Krista Pike, a 50-year-old woman on death row in Tennessee, have revealed confusion between prison authorities and emergency services that delayed medical care after she survived two doses of the lethal drug.
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According to audio obtained by the Associated Press, the first call to 911 was made on September 30 at 8:40 p.m., more than an hour after the lethal injection began. But the caller could not provide the required verification code, leading authorities to suspect it was a false alarm.
At 9:03 p.m., a dispatcher reported that the Emergency Communications Department had classified the call as false and that no medical assistance was needed at Riverbend prison.
It was not until 9:11 p.m. that prison authorities confirmed the incident had occurred and allowed rescue teams into the high-security complex. The ambulance and fire trucks reached the building where Pike was held at around 9:14 p.m.
Krista Pike was sentenced to death for the 1995 murder of her classmate, Colleen Schlemmer. She was just 18 at the time.
In Tennessee, the execution protocol calls for a second dose of pentobarbital if the first does not kill the condemned person. However, the rules do not explicitly say what should happen if the person survives both doses.
Published records show that Pike was unconscious after the injections and was not breathing normally. She was taken to a hospital, where she remained intubated for several days.
Her condition was so serious that her lawyers feared she might not survive. The 50-year-old regained consciousness, however, began speaking with difficulty and managed to walk with assistance. She was then discharged from the hospital and returned to the women’s prison, where she had spent about 30 years of her sentence.
The confusion over what was happening was also evident in other calls for medical help.
At 9:08 p.m., Pike’s attorney, Kelly Gleason, called emergency services to report that the execution had been completed according to protocol, but her client was still alive and needed immediate medical care.
She stressed that, according to the latest information from the lawyer present during the procedure, Pike was still breathing and medical help was essential to save her life.
The uncertainty continued even after rescue teams entered the prison. In a radio communication, a staff member asked that the prison administration be told which hospital the inmate was being taken to, expressing concern about the confusion that had surrounded the entire incident.
The Tennessee Department of Correction has yet to provide a full explanation for the failed execution. Meanwhile, Governor Bill Lee has ordered further executions suspended until the investigation is complete.
It is not yet known whether authorities will try to execute Pike again.
Medical experts have proposed several explanations for her survival, including possible problems with the quality of the drug used or the incorrect placement of intravenous catheters, which may have prevented the drug from entering her bloodstream normally.
Before the execution began, Pike’s lawyers had warned the courts and prison administration that she had a blood disorder that could cause clots to form at the injection sites.
The release of the call recordings has raised further questions about how the situation was handled and the authorities’ responsibility for the delay in providing medical care.
