Tennessee filing reveals 10 needle attempts in failed Pike execution

Tennessee executioners struggled for nearly an hour to establish intravenous lines in Christa Pike's arms, using approximately 10 needles and warning that her veins may have ruptured, according to a court filing released Thursday. The document provides the most granular account of the failed lethal injection carried out on September 30, during which the 50-year-old inmate survived two doses of pentobarbital.

Attorney Randy Spivey, who represents Pike, detailed the sequence of events in the filing. The team began placing the two required IVs at 6:34 p.m. An IV was secured in Pike's right arm in about six minutes. The process for her left arm took nearly 60 minutes. Spivey noted that the team had difficulty pushing saline through the final site, and one needle appeared severely bent upon removal.

During the procedure, Pike suggested looking in her upper arm for a usable vein. Spivey wrote that she was wincing and grimacing as team members manipulated the needles. At 6:57 p.m., one member stated a vein might be blowing. By 7:07 p.m., a team member declared, I think it's blown. The team declared the left IV successful at 7:13 p.m.

Phone calls to the execution chamber started five minutes later. Spivey reported that the team pushing the drug from an adjoining room repeatedly asked the IV team to check Pike's left arm. It is unclear exactly when the pentobarbital entered the lines. At 7:34 p.m., Pike said, I feel like my arm is about to bust. It burns. She continued speaking with her spiritual adviser for about 10 minutes before making an agitated snoring sound.

For the next 30 minutes, Pike strained, flinched, and appeared to struggle to breathe, Spivey said. He requested a phone to call other attorneys but was led on a seven-minute route through the facility instead of using the witness room phone. At 8:22 p.m., he called his colleagues to halt the execution, noting that a third dose is not authorized, and told the deputy attorney general that Pike needed immediate medical care.

Tennessee's protocol requires a second dose of pentobarbital if the first fails to cause death but does not specify procedures if the inmate survives the second injection. Pike was placed on a ventilator for several days after the attempt. Her attorneys reported at one point that they did not expect her to survive. She has since regained consciousness and returned to prison.

The filing was submitted in a separate lawsuit challenging the state's lethal injection procedures. Kit Thomas, an attorney representing other death row inmates, stated that predictions about botched executions have come true. He added that these outcomes will continue without substantial change in the state's methods.