Christa Pike has survived two brushes with death, but the convicted killer may still face another execution attempt.
“She is still incarcerated under the laws of the state of Tennessee,” Governor Bill Lee told reporters on October 28. “And I suspect her sentence will be the same as it was before, unless determined otherwise by the courts.”
A spokesperson for the Tennessee Department of Correction also confirmed to Oxygen that Pike remains on death row. “We have not received any orders from the court for a new date,” the spokesperson said.
Pike has spent approximately three decades in prison for the 1995 murder of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer. She was scheduled to be executed by lethal injection on September 30. However, after receiving two doses of pentobarbital, she reportedly began gasping, snoring, and making choking sounds before being rushed to the hospital in critical condition.
Her failed execution immediately raised questions about what had gone wrong during the procedure.
Pike’s attorneys subsequently filed two emergency motions seeking to halt the execution, secure life-saving medical treatment for their client, and preserve evidence from the procedure.
Meanwhile, Governor Lee ordered an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the failed execution.
According to Pike’s attorneys, a possible problem with her intravenous line may have caused the execution drug to enter surrounding tissue rather than flowing properly into her bloodstream.
“We may never know,” attorney Stephen Ferrell told CNN, “what sort of torture she endured during that process.”
Her lawyers initially feared that Pike might be brain dead. However, they later told CNN that she made what they described as a “medically unprecedented” recovery, eventually regaining the ability to speak and walk.
By October 10, Pike had been released from the hospital and returned to the Debra K. Johnson Rehabilitation Center, where she had been incarcerated for years.
Why Was Christa Pike on Death Row?
On January 12, 1995, Pike and her boyfriend, Tadaryl Shipp, carried out a fatal attack on 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer. Pike reportedly believed that Slemmer was competing with her for her boyfriend’s attention.
During the brutal assault, Shipp carved a pentagram into Slemmer’s chest. Pike also reportedly kept a piece of the victim’s skull, which she later described as a “souvenir.”
Slemmer suffered such severe injuries that when a University of Tennessee employee discovered her remains, he initially believed they belonged to an animal.
In 1996, Pike was convicted of premeditated first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit first-degree murder. She received a death sentence.
Shipp was convicted of the same charges but was sentenced to life in prison.
Despite surviving the failed execution in September, Pike remains on death row. No new execution date has been announced.
Legal experts have also warned that attempting to execute her again could enter legally uncharted territory. The circumstances surrounding the failed procedure may raise difficult questions about the legal limits and medical consequences of a second execution attempt.
For now, Pike remains incarcerated while the investigation and legal proceedings continue. Whether Tennessee will schedule another execution attempt will depend on further developments in the courts.
