Just days after Tennessee’s failed attempts to execute Christa Pike by lethal injection, a disturbing image showing the injuries she reportedly sustained appears to have surfaced.
Christa Pike was set to be the first woman in 200 years to be put to death in Tennessee on September 30. But in a dramatic turn of events, she survived two attempts to administer the lethal injection and was taken to the hospital, where she remains unconscious.
According to media witnesses watching from a separate room, the curtains to the execution chamber were opened at around 7:27 p.m., revealing Pike strapped to a gurney.
Before the lethal injections were administered, she made a final statement, saying she was “going to leave this world the way I spent most of my life, and that is in love,” according to AP reporter Kim Chandler. She added that she had love for “the people who were out here hating on her.”
Christa Pike’s execution
Chandler said Pike ended her statement by saying, “I’m at peace. I’m ready to be free,” before concluding, “This is a happy day.”
Tori Gessner, with WKRN News 2, said that after the first injection was administered, Pike complained of pain in her arm and said: “My arm feels like it’s about to burst open.”
“I saw a tear roll down (from) her right eye,” said WVLT Knoxville reporter Will Puckett, adding that Pike then said “one spot is really throbbing.”
As the execution continued, Pike became quieter and started taking deep breaths. At one point, she lifted her head and was reportedly “kicking her feet so often that she was actually knocking the sheet that laid over her off.”
After a while, witnesses heard snoring sounds. Puckett recalled her sounding “like she was almost choking.”
The curtain reportedly closed for the last time at 8:05 p.m., and at 8:53 p.m., witnesses were escorted out. At 9:28 p.m., Pike left the prison, still alive, in an ambulance, according to the Nashville Banner.
‘Leaked photo’ after botched execution
Now, a disturbing image that allegedly shows the injuries Pike sustained during the failed execution appears to have surfaced. The alleged image appears to support claims previously made by her attorneys, who said her arm was “swollen, burned, and blistered.”
While most news outlets have not published the image due to legal concerns, Radar.com has claimed that it is authentic and was obtained from a source within the Tennessee Department of Correction.
Pike’s lawyers say hospital staff are now working to save her life and flush the drug out of her system. Assistant federal defender Stephen Ferrell gave an update on her condition on CNN’s State of the Union: ”It remains the same. She’s still in the hospital on a ventilator, critically ill,” he said.
”We don’t really know the prognosis yet, and may not know for several days.”
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