Emergency response delayed 30 minutes after botched Christa Pike execution

Emergency medical treatment was delayed by 30 minutes following the failed execution of death row inmate Christa Pike in Tennessee on September 30, according to newly released 911 calls. The Washington Examiner and the Manchester Evening News reported that emergency recordings between prison officials and first responders showed a half-hour delay. PBS News Hour and ABC News Australia both reported that confusion among first responders and maximum security prison officials caused precious minutes to elapse as they tried to verify if the emergency request was legitimate. [1][3][4][8]

The 50-year-old inmate received two doses of the lethal injection drug pentobarbital on September 30, but she unexpectedly survived the attempt. ABC News Australia reported that Pike was rushed to the hospital in critical condition following the botched execution. The Washington Examiner reported that she was discharged from the hospital on Saturday and returned to the Deborah K. Johnson Rehabilitation Center. [1][3]

In 1995, an 18-year-old Pike and her boyfriend lured 19-year-old classmate Colleen Slemmer into a wooded area in Knoxville, where they tortured and killed her. Pike was convicted of murder and received a death sentence in 1996, making her one of the youngest women sentenced to death in the United States since 1976. [13][14]

As FTMQ News reported earlier, Pike was returned to the prison facility where she has been housed for more than 30 years after surviving the two lethal doses of pentobarbital. A judge has ordered Tennessee officials to preserve all evidence connected to the failed execution attempt. [15][16]