May Martinez, the mother of Christa Pike’s victim, has described the scene inside the execution chamber yesterday as “a mess” after witnessing the Tennessee inmate survive two rounds of lethal injection.
Martinez traveled from Florida to Nashville this week to witness the execution of Pike, who was convicted in 1996 of murdering her daughter, 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer, in Knoxville in 1995. Pike and her then-boyfriend, Tadaryl Shipp, were found to have beaten and killed Slemmer after Pike accused her of trying to steal her boyfriend.
Speaking to NBC News in a phone interview Thursday morning, Martinez said the execution did not go as expected. “They went to try to execute her, and she didn’t die,” she said.
Martinez said she and other witnesses were given little information in the moment. “We didn’t know anything until we got up to the office and saw the commissioner. And he said that it didn’t work, that it didn’t work, and she’s on her way to the hospital,” she said.
Asked what she would say to Tennessee’s governor and attorney general, Martinez replied: “They f***** up.” She added that Pike showed no remorse during the execution attempt.
According to AP, the procedure began at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution at around 8:00 p.m. local time. The curtain to the witness room was reportedly closed twice during the process, and media witnesses were at one point asked to leave.
Tennessee’s execution protocol calls for a second round of injections if the first fails, but does not specify what happens if the inmate remains alive after that.
Pike’s legal team filed an emergency motion to halt the execution and request medical care, which District Judge Clifton L. Corker granted, noting that medical personnel had begun treatment.
Dr. Joel Zivot, an Emory University School of Medicine professor retained by Pike’s attorneys, said it is possible Pike never reached a high enough blood concentration of pentobarbital to cause fatal apnea or cardiovascular failure, and that the delay before resuscitation began could result in brain injury.
The Tennessee Department of Correction has defended its handling of the execution. A spokesperson told The Tennessean that the department followed every step of the protocol approved by the Attorney General’s Office, adding that the lethal injection chemical “has consistently been effective” and that the protocol does not allow for additional procedures beyond what was carried out.
Governor Bill Lee has ordered what he called “a comprehensive, third-party review to determine exactly what occurred.” The state’s final scheduled execution of the year will not proceed as planned. It is the second execution to go wrong in Tennessee this year; in May, staff were unable to find a vein during the scheduled execution of Tony Carruthers.
Before the execution, Martinez told the outlet Clarín that she remembers her daughter as a 19-year-old who loved computers, retro video games, and the roller rink.
“I am her voice. Someone has to speak for Colleen,” she said.
Read more:
