Wire reporting: (AP, via ClickOnDetroit)

A lawyer for Tennessee death-row prisoner Christa Pike said in a court filing Thursday that execution staff had trouble placing intravenous lines in her arms and warned that veins may have ruptured before pentobarbital was injected on Sept. 30, according to Associated Press reporting carried by ClickOnDetroit, Local 10, CityNews Toronto, NewsChannel 5, WOWK 13, WFLA and other outlets^{2,3,4,5,6,7,10,11,12,15,16}.

Pike, 50, survived two doses of the drug during an attempted execution for the 1995 stabbing death of classmate Colleen Slemmer, the AP accounts said^2,3,4,5,6,15.

Attorney Randy Spivey wrote that the IV team used about 10 needles and several sites on both arms and had difficulty pushing saline through the last line they set, the AP reports said^2,3,4,5,6,7.

The Guardian, citing a declaration by Spivey, described a longer chronology of the IV attempt that he said he witnessed in the chamber¹.

Tennessee protocol provides for a second pentobarbital dose if the first does not cause death but does not say what to do if a person survives a second injection, the AP accounts said^2,3,4,5,6.

Pike was hospitalized, spent days on a ventilator, later regained consciousness and was returned to prison, those reports said^2,3,4,5,6.

KSL’s AP account said the IV work began at 6:34 p.m., that staff expressed doubts about a possible blown vein around 6:57 p.m. and 7:07 p.m., and that Pike later said her arm burned¹³.

Spivey asked other lawyers at 8:22 p.m. to stop the procedure because a third dose is not authorized under state protocol, then told a deputy attorney general that Pike needed medical care, the KSL AP account said¹³.

The filing is part of a challenge to Tennessee’s lethal-injection procedures; Kit Thomas, a lawyer for people on death row, said predictions of failed executions would continue without substantial change, according to that account^13,15.

South China Morning Post’s Thursday-Friday account described the same court document’s account of repeated IV failures and a warning that veins may have ruptured before the drug was given¹⁴.

WGN, citing the Oct. 15 declaration filed Thursday in Davidson County Chancery Court, said Spivey reported a purple arm below the elbow, asked officials around 8:15 p.m. to halt a third dose, and was told at 8:50 p.m. that an ambulance was coming and at 9:10 p.m. that staff were giving oxygen¹⁷.

KSN, crediting WKRN, described the same filing, said staff struggled nearly 40 minutes to set IVs, and noted Tennessee had also failed to place a backup IV in a 2026 attempt to execute Tony Carruthers¹⁸.

ABC News, citing the same declaration, said Spivey reported that Pike grimaced during a needle attempt in her left shoulder, that staff said they should regroup after a possible blown vein, and that a spiritual adviser told him at 8:06 p.m. she was still alive¹⁹.

ABC said a Metro Nashville Emergency Communications Center transcript showed a 911 call from the prison at 8:40 p.m. requesting an ambulance, and that Spivey’s account was attached to a Thursday motion seeking to add evidence to a complaint by other death-row prisoners challenging Tennessee’s pentobarbital protocol; Pike is not among the named plaintiffs¹⁹.

ABC said it asked the Tennessee Department of Correction for comment on Spivey’s account; the department had previously said it followed the state’s lawful protocol and that the chemical in the protocol has been effective¹⁹. The network said Gov. Bill Lee halted scheduled executions after the attempt, that Commissioner Frank Strada later resigned, and that the governor’s office appointed former U.S. Attorney Ed Stanton to review whether protocol was followed¹⁹.

Sources

1. The GuardianChrista Pike’s IV team warned vein might be ‘blowing’ before failed executionOct 22, 2:42 PM
2. (AP, via ClickOnDetroit)Execution staff warned IV site might have 'blown' during Christa Pike's execution attemptAlso (AP, via The Philadelphia Inquirer), (AP, via ClickOrlando), (AP, via KSAT), (AP, via Local 10), (AP, via Boston.com), (AP, via Las Vegas Review-Journal), (AP, via CityNews Toronto), (AP, via NewsChannel 5), (AP, via WOWK 13), (AP, via KSL), (AP, via WFLA)Oct 22, 5:42 PM
3. WKRNAttorneys warned of 'blown' veins prior to botched execution, court filings sayOct 22, 6:22 PM
4. SCMP‘Either blood or blown’: graphic account of botched US executionOct 22, 11:00 PM
5. APExecution staff warned IV site might have ‘blown’ during Christa Pike’s execution attemptOct 22, 11:00 PM

WGN · KSN · ABC NewsShowHide

1. WGNAttorneys warned of 'blown' veins prior to Christa Pike's botched execution, court filings sayOct 23, 11:38 AM
2. KSNAttorneys warned of 'blown' veins prior to Christa Pike's botched execution, court filings sayOct 23, 12:09 PM
3. ABC NewsChrista Pike's attorney describes botched execution, concerns about 'blown' veinsOct 23, 6:16 PM

Read the original at The Guardian ↗