Will Puckett, a reporter for WVLT-TV, describes witnessing Christa Pike's failed execution in Tennessee on Wednesday, January 4th. Pike was scheduled to be executed by lethal injection but remained conscious and talking long after the process should have taken effect, with officials struggling to find her veins due to their small size. The execution lasted longer than expected, with Puckett noting that by 7:26 PM when the curtain opened, Pike seemed surprisingly upbeat despite the botched procedure.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-02,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
On September 28, 2023, Christa Pike, a woman sentenced to death for murdering her classmate Colleen Slemmer in 1995 when she was 18 years old, is set to be executed by lethal injection. This execution will mark the first time Tennessee has put a female inmate to death in over 200 years. Pike and her boyfriend tortured and killed Slemmer out of jealousy; the case gained widespread attention due to its brutality and the carving of a satanic symbol into Slemmer's body.
Pike does not deny her guilt but argues that her childhood history of sexual abuse and neglect, as well as her mental health issues, should have prevented a death sentence. Her attorneys filed a petition with the U.S. Supreme Court for clemency on grounds related to PTSD and potential psychological trauma from lethal injection procedures. However, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee rejected Pike’s request for clemency.
Slemmer's mother has been campaigning for decades for Pike’s execution to proceed. The case highlights ongoing debates about capital punishment in the United States, particularly concerning juveniles and those with documented histories of abuse and mental health conditions. Only 18 women have been executed since the 1970s compared to 1,663 men, underscoring the rarity and controversial nature of female executions in modern American history.
Written for “Tennessee Woman Execution” on 2026-10-04,
grounded in this article and the 137 other(s) covering the same event.
What it was like being in the room for Christa Pike's botched execution
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it → botch → execution
'This is not normal,' witness reporters said as Pike kept talking long after her lethal injection
Reporter Will Puckett says he may never sign up to witness another execution after what happened to Christa Pike, but he has no regrets about being there.
uncertain
he → say → regrets
Puckett, the morning co-anchor for WVLT-TV in Knoxville, Tenn., was one of seven journalists selected to bear witness to the execution of Christa Pike, who remains alive and in critical condition despite being administered two doses of pentobarbital on Wednesday.
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who → select → Wednesday
"When you agree to be a state-selected witness to an event like this, you know there's the possibility that you'll be called upon to walk people through the events that could be traumatic," Puckett told As It Happens host Nil Köksal.
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It → agree → Köksal
"And that's exactly where we're at today, is just relaying how the state of Tennessee failed to execute Christa Gail Pike appropriately and properly.
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state → relay → Pike
"
Pike, 50, was 18 in January 1995 when she, her boyfriend, Tadaryl Shipp, and a third companion lured their classmate, 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer, into a wooded area where they tortured and killed her.
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they → lure → her
Pike and Shipp confessed to the killing and were convicted of first-degree murder.
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Pike → confess → murder
Pike was sentenced to death while Schipp, who was 17 at the time of the crime, was sentenced to life in prison.
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who → sentence → prison
Years later, Pike expressed remorse for what she'd done.
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she → express → what
Her lawyers and supporters tried to secure a stay of execution, citing her age at the time of the crime, mental health issues and a history of severe childhood neglect and sexual abuse.
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lawyers → try → neglect
Slemmer's mother, May Martinez, spoke out in favour of the execution, saying she has waited decades to see Pike's sentence carried out.
'She should not be talking'
uncertain
She → speak → execution
When Puckett and the other witnesses entered the execution chamber on Wednesday and took their seats at 6:41 p.m, a curtain and blinds covered the window, behind which Pike was strapped to a gurney.
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Pike → enter → gurney
He says that state witnesses are not shown the process of the needle being inserted into person's arm.
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witnesses → say → arm
It was Puckett's first time attending an execution.
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It → attend → execution
He says the other reporters, who had been through it before, told him the whole process should take about 30 minutes.
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process → say → minutes
But by the time a half-hour passed, officials hadn't yet opened the curtain.
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officials → pass → curtain
"One of Christa Gail Pike's objections going into her execution is that she had small veins," Puckett said.
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Puckett → go → veins
"So if you listen to her complaint and go back to her medical history, you can only begin to connect the dots that they were having issues finding where her vein was to start the injection.
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vein → listen → injection
"
When the curtains opened at 7:26, Pike seemed almost "jovial," Puckett said.
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Puckett → open → 7:26
She delivered her final words.
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She → deliver → words
"She simply said, 'I'm going to leave this world the way that I've spent most of my life, in love,'" he said.
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he → say → love
"She added at points, 'I'm going to love the people who hate on me the most because they're the ones who need the most love,' ending it with, 'I'm good now.
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I → add → it
I'm ready to be free, I'm going to celebrate my freedom.
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I → go → freedom
"
She did not mention Colleen Slemmer or her crime, he says.
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he → mention → Slemmer
Pike expressed physical discomfort, he said.
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he → express → discomfort
"She said, 'The vein in my arm feels like it's about to bust.'
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it → say → arm
One minute later, she goes, 'One spot is really throbbing,'" he said.
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he → go → ?
"That's when my colleagues, who have witnessed executions before, looked at me and said, 'This is not normal.
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This → witness → me
She should not be talking.
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She → talk → ?
She should very clearly be in the process of dying.'
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She → die → process
"
'Why are we not viewing this?'
Pike took a few more deep breaths, then gasped, Puckett said.
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Puckett → view → breaths
At 7:46 p.m., officials closed the curtains again for three minutes.
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officials → close → minutes
When the curtain re-opened, Pike was snoring.
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Pike → re → ?
At about 8:05 p.m., officials closed the curtains again.
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officials → close → curtains
"There was a bunch [of people saying]: 'This obviously is not going right.
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This → be → people
What can you tell us?
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you → tell → us
Why are we not viewing this?'" Puckett said.
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Puckett → view → this
The reporters did not get answers to their questions, and Pike continued to be heard snoring behind the curtain until the microphone was cut off at about 8:53 p.m.
Media witnesses were then escorted out.
Randall Spivey, one of Pike's lawyers, told reporters on Thursday afternoon that his client is a Nashville hospital receiving "life-saving medical care.
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client → get → care
"Christa is alive right now," he said.
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he → say → ?
"We don't have a sense of her prognosis or much update on her health at the moment."
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We → have → moment
…and 7 more, not listed.
The Aporia
