re: Supreme Court overrules circuit court.

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They read the protocols two lethal injections. I am seeing she was still alive ambo full siren at presser...

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good. Bring her back to full consciousness and kill her again.

Make her suffer like her victim.

We got all cute trying to be all modern with killing criminals.

The old methods are much more reliable.

Charista Snell
@charistasnell

BREAKING UPDATE: Tennessee’s attempt to execute Christa Pike tonight has ended without her execution being completed.

According to Pike’s federal defense team, the state administered two syringes of pentobarbital during the lethal-injection process, but Pike remained alive afterward.

Important clarification: “two syringes” does NOT necessarily mean two complete rounds of Tennessee’s execution protocol. The two pentobarbital syringes are part of the state’s primary lethal-injection sequence.

Her attorneys subsequently filed another emergency motion seeking to stop the execution, alleging that Pike had not lost consciousness and remained alive after the drug was administered.

Now we are also getting firsthand accounts from the official media witnesses inside Riverbend.

According to WBIR, witnesses said Pike was still alive and breathing when officials instructed them to leave the witness area at 8:53 p.m. Central. One witness described the process as seeming “very out of sorts” from the beginning.

Another particularly striking detail from the witness account: after the injections had already been administered, Pike reportedly asked her chaplain whether they had injected her yet.

That does not, by itself, tell us medically what was happening or why the execution failed — but it is an important firsthand detail in reconstructing the timeline of what occurred inside the chamber.

The execution attempt has now ended.

Pike remains alive.

Tennessee did not successfully carry out the death sentence tonight.

Her current execution warrant expires at midnight Central Time. If it expires without the execution being completed, another execution date would have to be set before Tennessee could attempt this again.

There are now major unanswered questions about the drug administration, Pike’s response, the timing of the procedure and why officials ultimately stopped the execution.

I’m waiting for TDOC’s full explanation and additional witness accounts before stating exactly what failed.

Charista Snell
@charistasnell

UPDATE: We now have confirmation through court filings that Christa Pike was transported to a hospital following Tennessee’s unsuccessful execution attempt and is receiving medical care.

What we still do NOT have is her current condition, exactly what treatment was required, or confirmation of which hospital she was taken to.

The timeline at this point:

Execution drugs administered ? Pike remained alive ? her attorneys sought emergency intervention and lifesaving measures ? the execution attempt ended ? Pike was transported from Riverbend for medical treatment.

And I’ve seen a lot of people asking the obvious question:

Why would Tennessee be required to save her life when the state had just been trying to execute her?

Because once the execution attempt was stopped and Pike remained alive, she was still a living prisoner in state custody — and the state’s legal obligations toward a prisoner with a serious medical emergency apply.

The U.S. Supreme Court has long held that prison officials cannot be deliberately indifferent to a prisoner’s serious medical needs. Someone in state custody cannot obtain medical treatment for themselves; the state therefore has a constitutional responsibility to provide necessary care.

That does NOT mean doctors are legally required to guarantee that a prisoner survives or continue medically futile treatment indefinitely.

It means that once officials were no longer carrying out the execution, they could not simply leave her untreated and allow the previously administered pentobarbital to kill her. Her attorneys specifically demanded lifesaving medical measures while she remained alive.

As for where she is:

I do have a suspicion, but this remains my inference — NOT confirmed reporting.

My first place to look would be Nashville General Hospital.

Nashville General has a documented existing relationship involving medical care for Tennessee Department of Correction patients, it is relatively close to Riverbend, and it has the emergency and critical-care resources necessary for this type of situation.

That does NOT establish that Pike is there. Vanderbilt or another Nashville-area hospital remains entirely possible, and no reliable source has publicly identified her hospital yet.

For now, what we know is this:

Christa Pike survived Tennessee’s execution attempt, the attempt was terminated, and she was subsequently transported for medical care while still a prisoner in TDOC custody.

Now we wait for her condition, hospital location, and an explanation of exactly what went wrong inside Riverbend.