Daily Mail
· collected 2026-10-02 · by Stephen M. Lepore
- Sign up HERE to our DC Insider newsletter - your guide to what's rocking Washington, rattling the White House and setting tongues wagging on the Hill
Donald Trump ripped into Tennessee officials for the botched execution of death row inmate Christa Pike after the killer survived two doses of lethal drugs on Wednesday.
asserted
killer → sign → Wednesday
Pike, 50, who was sentenced to death for the 1995 murder of her classmate Colleen Slemmer, was administered four syringes of pentobarbital at the Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville, Tennessee late Wednesday.
asserted
who → sentence → Nashville
Speaking to the press in Texas, the President seemed absolutely baffled by the failure to execute Pike.
asserted
President → speak → Pike
'How does that happen?' Trump said.
asserted
Trump → happen → ?
Trump demurred on suggesting how the state of Tennessee should proceed with Pike's punishment - but admitted it was a captivating story.
asserted
it → demur → punishment
'That was an interesting situation, but you're going to have to speak to Tennessee about it.
asserted
you → go → it
Whether or not they're going to go forward,' he said.
asserted
he → go → ?
Trump was alongside Republican and former White House Doctor Ronny Jackson and suggested he would be more qualified to diagnose what happened.
Pike was still alive and loudly snoring after the attempted lethal injection and was rushed to a hospital by ambulance.
uncertain
Pike → suggest → ambulance
Donald Trump ripped into those responsible for the botched execution of convicted killer Christa Pike after she survived two doses of lethal injection Wednesday
Pike (pictured) was administered two syringes of pentobarbital at the Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville, Tennessee late Wednesday
She remains hospitalized, but her legal team claims they have not been informed about her condition and no updates have been given.
uncertain
updates → rip → condition
Pike's case marks the second botched execution in Tennessee this year, with Robin Maher, the executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center, claiming it is the worst in modern history.
asserted
it → mark → history
'This event is the worst we've seen and unlike any other botched execution in the modern era,' Maher told the New York Times.
asserted
Maher → see → Times
Seven other death row inmates have lived through an execution team's failure to access a vein to administer lethal injection drugs, but no one has stayed alive after receiving the drugs used in such executions, she said.
Maher added that what Pike experienced is 'singular and unparalleled.'
Officials raised curtains to the execution chamber at 7.27pm, showing Pike strapped to a gurney.
asserted
Officials → live → gurney
'I'm going to leave this world the way I spent most of my life and that is in love,' the killer said in her 'last' words.
asserted
killer → go → words
She described herself as at peace.
asserted
She → describe → peace
But Pike remained awake and at one point raised her head and asked prison officials if her arm was supposed to feel that way.
asserted
arm → remain → officials
It was not clear what she was referencing.
asserted
she → reference → what
A picture taken on March 30, 1996 shows Christa Pike being escorted from Knox County Criminal Court in Knoxville, Tennessee, US, after being sentenced to death for the murder of Colleen Slemmer
Christa Pike, pictured in court in August, suffered the worst botched execution after she survived two doses of lethal injection last night, a death penalty expert says
By 8.26pm, execution witnesses reported that the second dose of pentobarbital had been administered.
asserted
dose → take → pentobarbital
Pike continued to be heard snoring behind the closed curtain until the microphone was cut off at 8.53pm.
asserted
microphone → continue → 8.53pm
Witnesses were then escorted out of the area.
asserted
Witnesses → escort → area
Lawyers for Pike filed an emergency motion late Wednesday to the Tennessee Supreme Court seeking to immediately halt and stay the execution, saying she was in 'unnecessary agony' and it was violating her right to be executed free of cruel and unusual punishment.
asserted
it → file → punishment
They also filed motions in the Sixth Circuit court and a district court.
asserted
They → file → court
The Tennessee Department of Correction has said in a statement that it 'followed every step of the State's lawful, established execution protocol approved by the Attorney General's Office.'
asserted
it → say → Office
The state's execution protocol calls for a secondary set of drug syringes to be administered 'if the inmate is not deceased' after the first set.
asserted
inmate → call → set
It does not spell out what happens if the subject is alive after the second set.
asserted
subject → spell → set
This was the second time this year that Tennessee has been unable to carry out an execution.
asserted
Tennessee → carry → execution
In May state officials called off the lethal injection of Tony Carruthers, who was convicted of kidnapping and killing three people in 1994, after executioners tried and failed for over an hour to place an IV to administer pentobarbital.
uncertain
executioners → call → pentobarbital
Robin Maher, the executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center, has claimed Pike's botched execution is the worst in modern history.
asserted
execution → claim → history
She said that what Pike experienced is 'singular and unparalleled'
asserted
experienced → say → what
Witness John North with WBIR recounts the planned execution of Christa Pike at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville
Pike and her boyfriend were convicted of the fatal stabbing and beating in 1995 of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer, their classmate at a job training facility in Knoxville.
The case garnered widespread attention in part because of a pentagram that was carved on Slemmer's body, and other elements of the crime stoked fears of Satan worship during the 'satanic panic' of the 1980s and 1990s.
asserted
elements → recount → 1980s
Pike was initially scheduled to be put to death Wednesday morning, and witnesses had gathered at the Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville when the 6th Circuit US Court of Appeals voted 2-1 to issue a stay.
asserted
Court → schedule → stay
That court said a delay was needed to consider whether Pike's allegations of childhood sexual abuse were fully considered at her sentencing.
asserted
allegations → say → sentencing
The attorney general's office appealed to the Supreme Court, saying that halting the execution at the last moment traumatized Slemmer's family and rewarded 'abusive delay tactics' by Pike's attorneys.
asserted
halting → appeal → attorneys
Later in the day, the high court cleared the way for the execution to proceed.
asserted
execution → clear → way
The conservative majority did not explain their order, while the three liberal members signed a dissent that said Pike's claims deserved a closer look.
uncertain
claims → explain → look
Pike did not deny killing Slemmer, but her supporters argued that the state should consider her age at the time, her mental illness and her allegations of severe sexual abuse.
asserted
state → deny → abuse
After the murder, Pike was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder.
asserted
Pike → diagnose → disorder
In her clemency petition, she said she only wanted to fight Slemmer but killed her in a frenzied attack when she couldn't 'put the brakes on.
asserted
she → say → brakes
'
Tadaryl Shipp, Pike's boyfriend, was 17 when the crime happened and received a sentence of life in prison with the possibility of parole.
asserted
crime → happen → parole
Pike was the only one sentenced to death
'
asserted
Pike → sentence → death
It took me numerous years to even realize the gravity of what I'd done,' Pike said in a statement.
asserted
Pike → take → statement
…and 7 more, not listed.
The Aporia
