One month ago, Tennessee tried to execute Christa Pike. It failed. On Friday, she spoke for the first time, and her words should trouble anyone who supports the death penalty. “I’m deeply hurt by the incompetence that has put so many people in this terrible position,” Pike said in a statement reported by the Associated Press.
She is right about one thing. The state was incompetent. But the answer is not to forget why she sat in that chamber. The answer is to demand that Tennessee do its gravest job correctly, in the open, for the sake of the victim’s family and every taxpayer.
Key Takeaways
- Christa Pike, 50, survived two doses of pentobarbital during Tennessee’s execution attempt on Sept. 30.
- On Oct. 30 she released her first statement, describing constant pain and blaming the state’s incompetence.
- Pike was 18 when she and her boyfriend tortured and killed 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer in 1995.
- The prison chief resigned, Gov. Bill Lee ordered an independent review, and executions paused for the rest of the year.
- Conservatives can back the death penalty and still demand a public report and real accountability.
What Christa Pike Said in Her First Statement
Pike dictated the statement to her lawyers from a prison infirmary. “There hasn’t been a moment since that night when I haven’t been in pain,” she said. “My body hurts. My arms hurt. My hands hurt. My throat hurts. I still struggle to speak.”
She also mentioned the victim. “I continue to think about my victim’s family and the terrible pain and loss they have endured,” Pike said. According to the BBC, she is thought to be the only person to survive an execution attempt by lethal injection.
Her lawyers paint a grim picture of the hospital stay. For the first few days, Pike lay unconscious on a ventilator. Her attorneys say both arms ended up burned and blistered. Meanwhile, medical experts suspect a problem with the IV line let the drug pool in her tissue instead of entering her bloodstream.
Never Forget Colleen Slemmer
Before going further, remember why Christa Pike sat on death row. In 1995, Pike was 18. She and her then-boyfriend, Tadaryl Shipp, beat, tortured and killed 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer. The three had met at a job training camp for low-income young people, the BBC reports.
Pike received a death sentence. Shipp, by contrast, was not legally an adult, so he could not face the death penalty. He remains in prison. Her lawyers then spent decades appealing. Days before the execution date, both the U.S. Supreme Court and Gov. Lee declined to block it.
Slemmer’s mother, May Martinez, attended the execution attempt. Afterward, she called it a “mess” and said the state owes her an apology. “All I wanted was justice,” Martinez said. Her voice deserves at least as much airtime as the killer’s.
Tennessee Botched the Christa Pike Execution. That’s on the State.
Here is where conservatives should not flinch. The failure belongs to the government. Pike’s lawyers say the team used at least seven needles to find a vein, and one came out bent at a 90-degree angle, ABC News reported. In a court motion, they said she complained that her arm “feels like it’s about to burst open.”
Worse, this was not a one-time slip. In May, staff could not find a vein for Tony Carruthers, so his execution was postponed. Back in 2022, Tennessee halted an injection at the last minute because officials had failed to properly test the drugs. That led to a pause and a new protocol in December 2024.
Prison commissioner Frank Strada resigned days after the Pike attempt. Still, he said his department “carried out its responsibilities in accordance with the established protocol,” Axios reported. Gov. Lee said the same thing. So far as anyone knows, the team “followed exactly the protocol as outlined,” he said. If that is true, then the protocol itself is the problem.
Justice Requires Competence
Conservatives believe in limited government. However, limited does not mean sloppy. When the state takes on the power to end a life, it takes on the highest duty of care it will ever carry. A government that cannot place an IV line correctly has no business asking voters to trust it with that power.
Think about it the way you would think about any other public job. If a road crew paved a bridge wrong three years running, voters would want names, a report and a fix. In the same way, a death penalty system deserves the same scrutiny. Government failures, as we saw with the state-run signals in Spain’s deadly train crash, rarely fix themselves in the dark.
Each failure also hands ammunition to people who want to abolish capital punishment outright. A friend of Pike’s told the BBC she was troubled that Lee had shown little willingness to reconsider the death penalty itself. That debate will only grow louder if Tennessee keeps failing.
What Comes Next for Christa Pike
Gov. Lee appointed former U.S. Attorney Ed Stanton to lead an independent review. Notably, Stanton also led the 2022 review that forced Tennessee to rewrite its lethal injection rules. In addition, Lee paused executions for the rest of the year.
Pike’s lawyers want her sentence reduced to life without parole. Lee, for his part, has not budged. “I suspect her sentence will be the same as before unless determined otherwise by the courts,” he told reporters this week. That is the correct posture. Courts, not press releases from either side, should settle what the Constitution allows next.
Meanwhile, Tennessee should commit to three things. First, release Stanton’s findings in full, not a summary. Second, show the public exactly what changes before any execution resumes. Finally, give the Slemmer family the apology Martinez asked for. Justice and mercy are both moral words. A state that can’t do its job serves neither one.
Crime stories too often become a blame game that forgets the victim. This one should not. Colleen Slemmer was 19. Her family has waited 31 years.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Christa Pike?
Christa Pike is a Tennessee death row inmate. At 18, she and her boyfriend tortured and killed 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer in 1995. She was the first woman Tennessee had scheduled for execution in over 200 years.
What happened at the Christa Pike execution?
On Sept. 30, 2026, Pike survived two doses of the drug pentobarbital. Her lawyers say the team used at least seven needles. Experts suspect a problem with the IV line. She spent days on a ventilator and now lives in a prison infirmary.
Will Tennessee try to execute Christa Pike again?
It is unclear. Gov. Bill Lee said he expects her sentence to stand unless the courts decide otherwise. Her lawyers want life without parole. Executions are paused for the rest of 2026 while Ed Stanton leads an independent review.
Where do you stand? Should Tennessee carry out the sentence once it fixes its process, or should a failed execution end the case? Tell us in the comments.
Follow World of Payne for More
For more conservative commentary on crime, justice and the stories shaping your community, visit the World of Payne homepage. Then follow the World of Payne show on X, Facebook and Instagram for new episodes and daily takes.
