Christa Pike is in critical condition after failed execution in Tennessee, her lawyers say

Christa Pike shouldn’t still be breathing. She survived two injections of lethal drugs in a harrowing failed execution by the state of Tennessee, raising questions about how the procedure was carried out and how it went wrong.

Nearly 24 hours after Pike was set to be put to death for a murder she committed when she was 18, she remains in critical condition and is receiving care, her lawyers said Thursday afternoon. Her prognosis is unclear, said Randall Spivey, one of her lawyers. Neither he nor another lawyer, Stephen Ferrell, who spoke with reporters, said he had seen her in the hospital.

“I’m haunted by last night,” said Spivey, who was there during the execution attempt.

Spivey said he counted at least seven needles used in Pike’s left arm alone, “one of which appeared to be bent when it was pulled from her arm after an unsuccessful attempt.”

He added that Pike’s right arm had turned purple after the second round of the drug pentobarbital, a sedative used in Tennessee’s execution protocol, was dispensed. Pike’s lawyers said they also learned of “blistering and burning around the sites of the injection.”

The description sheds additional light on what occurred inside the…

Original source: https://www.nbcnews.com/health