911 calls reveal chaos during Christa Pike's failed execution bid as chilling new details emerge
The transcript of 911 calls following Christa Pike's botched execution have been released -Credit:Tennessee Department of Correcti (Tennessee Department of Correcti)
Emergency assistance for death row killer Christa Pike was held up by miscommunication between first responders and Tennessee prison authorities after her botched execution last month, 911 dispatch recordings reveal.
The recordings, secured Monday by The via a public records request, indicate that critical minutes ticked by as officials and emergency personnel attempted to determine whether a call for urgent medical help from the execution chamber was genuine.
The first 911 call was placed at 8:40pm on September 30, more than an hour after the attempted lethal injection began. However, the person calling couldn't supply a verification code to confirm the request's authenticity.
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"Per supervisors here at the DEC (Department of Emergency Communications) we have been informed it is a false call," a dispatcher says at 9:03pm
Pike was administered two lethal doses of the drug pentobarbital on September 30 that failed to kill her -Credit:Tennessee Department of Correction/AFP via Getty Images
"There is no medical assistance needed at Riverbend Prison." It took roughly half an hour from the original call - around 9:11pm - before prison authorities confirmed the emergency was genuine and allowed responders to enter the facility.
Neither the Tennessee Department of Correction nor Pike's legal team immediately responded to requests for comment.
Pike, 50, required hospitalization after surviving two administrations of pentobarbital during the state's execution attempt for the 1995 stabbing death of classmate Colleen Slemmer. She was 18 when she tortured and killed Slemmer with her boyfriend, making her one of the youngest women ever sentenced to death.
State protocol requires a second dose of pentobarbital if the first doesn't result in death, but it doesn't spell out what to do if an inmate survives the second injection.
Pike was sentenced to death for the 1995 stabbing death of classmate Colleen Slemmer -Credit:AP Photo/George Walker IV
The initial 911 call, released only as a written transcript, reported that Pike was unconscious and not breathing normally.
Following transport to a hospital, Pike required ventilator support for several days. Her attorneys anticipated at one stage that she might not survive.
She regained consciousness last Tuesday and started speaking in limited capacity and walking with help, they said. Pike was released from the hospital and sent back to the women's prison where she had been held for 30 years, her lawyers said Saturday.
The original call came from an individual whose name and position were redacted. The caller informed a dispatcher that they were at the Riverbend Maximum Security Institution where they had attempted to execute someone, but she remained alive.
While emergency responders worked to confirm the call, they communicated with representatives of the prison's Central Control, who stated they "would have been the ones to call in" and they "did not make that call," according to a recording time-stamped at 9:07pm.
Pike was one of the youngest women ever sentenced to death -Credit:WBIR-TV via AP
At approximately the same time, a first responder could be heard over the radio saying, "Somebody is outside the gate at the prison telling us that it's real and demanding us to go in. They say they are some sort of state official. I need somebody to get out to the gate and talk to those people."
Central Control verified the call was legitimate a few minutes later, clearing the way for responders to enter through the gates at approximately 9:11pm.
An AP reporter observed an ambulance and fire trucks arriving at the building within the prison grounds at 9:14pm. At 9:34pm, while medics were transporting Pike to a medical facility, one requested dispatch to confirm the prison was informed of their destination.
"Just 'cause there's been so much other confusion, I want to make sure they are aware of this," the responder said.
The Nashville Department of Emergency Communications provided the collection of audio recordings from dispatchers with certain redactions. Police said the audio from the initial 911 call was protected from public release under state law.
Two additional emergency calls were placed, including one at 9:08pm by one of Pike's lawyers, Kelly Gleason.
"My client, Christa Gail Pike, is undergoing a state execution. She has completed the stages of the protocol and last we knew from the attorney who is present, she is still alive and breathing and needs immediate life-saving care," Gleason said on the call.
The Tennessee Department of Correction has not disclosed what malfunctioned during the attempted execution. Gov. Bill Lee suspended additional execution attempts while a review is conducted.
It remains uncertain whether the state will attempt to execute Pike again. Medical professionals have suggested several possibilities that might explain Pike's survival, including possible drug quality problems and IV line positioning causing the drug to accumulate in her tissue.
Prior to the execution attempt, Pike's lawyers informed courts and prison officials that she suffered from a blood disorder that could lead to clotting at injection sites.
Source: Crime