DISTURBING PHOTO REPORTEDLY SHOWS CHRISTA PIKE’S BADLY INJURED ARM AFTER FAILED EXECUTION
A disturbing photograph reportedly showing Christa Pike’s arm following Tennessee’s failed attempt to execute her is now circulating online, giving the public what may be its first visual look at the injuries her attorneys have been describing.
The image appears to show severe purple discoloration and bruising extending across much of an arm.
Important: the photograph has not been independently authenticated publicly. Reports say it was leaked from inside the Tennessee Department of Correction, but some outlets covering the image say they have not independently verified it.
What has been documented comes from Pike’s attorneys.
They say both of Pike’s arms were swollen, burned and blistered when she arrived at a Nashville-area hospital after the September 30 execution attempt.
According to their court filing, the execution team used at least seven needles while attempting to establish IV access. Pike reportedly complained during the procedure that her arm felt like it was going to “burst open.”
Her attorneys allege the IV lines were not properly placed or maintained and that some of the pentobarbital may have entered surrounding tissue rather than being delivered properly through her veins.
That could potentially help explain the injuries and why Pike survived after receiving two doses of pentobarbital.
But that explanation remains an allegation and medical theory, not an official finding. Tennessee has launched an independent investigation into what went wrong.
Pike remained hospitalized, unconscious and on a ventilator in the most recently confirmed medical update.
And while questions continue to surround the execution attempt, 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer, whose 1995 murder resulted in Pike’s death sentence, should not be forgotten in this story.
Now this leaked photograph raises another major question:
If this image is authentic, what exactly happened inside that execution chamber, and how did an execution involving two doses of pentobarbital end with Pike still alive and suffering injuries like these?- Megan Deleigha Hughes