What happened in the failed execution of Christa Pike - and what next?
✓The Tennessee correction department said Pike had been taken to an off-site medical facility, while one of her lawyers said on Wednesday that she was being given "life-saving measures" in hospital.
On Thursday, lawyer Randy Spivey told reporters: "We don't have a sense of her prognosis or much update on her health at the moment."
Dr Joel Zivot, a professor at the Emory University School of Medicine, told the BBC in an email: "It's very possible that as a consequence of the delay of the beginning of resuscitation she [Pike] will have a brain injury."
Historically, the US Supreme Court has not halted second attempts at executions, said John Mills, a lawyer who works with inmates sentenced to death.
In 2024, it allowed Alabama to proceed with a second execution of Kenneth Eugene Smith, using an experimental oxygen deprivation method, after their attempt to kill him by lethal injection failed two years earlier.
A Supreme Court case from 1947 allowed the state of Louisiana to send Willie Francis, a teenager whose first execution attempt failed when he was 17 years old, back to the electric chair.
The court found a second execution would not violate the Constitution's prohibitions against double jeopardy or cruel and unusual punishment and Francis was executed aged 18.
"If the question is, is it likely the federal courts would intervene in a second attempt? I'm afraid the answer is a resounding no," Mills said of Pike's case.
Colleen Slemmer's killers met at a job training camp for troubled teens.
She was found with an inverted pentagram - a symbol associated with satanic groups - carved into her chest.
Pike had accused Colleen of insulting her and trying to steal her then-boyfriend, Tadaryl Shipp, who was 17.
Two other residents at the camp later testified that Pike had bragged about the murder and showed them a piece of Colleen's skull.
Colleen's mum, May Martinez, drove 11 hours from Florida to attend the execution, she told People, external, alongside with her husband Raul.
She said: "I wanted her [Pike] to remember who Colleen was and what they've done and never forget that thought, no matter where she goes."
Shipp was given a life sentence with the possibility of parole and he remains in prison.
He was spared the death penalty for his part in the attack because he was not yet legally an adult at the time.
Correction 1 October: This article originally referred to the inmate executed by the state of Louisiana in 1947 as Willie Smith. We have amended the article to make clear that his name was Willie Francis.
The convicted killer is in hospital in Tennessee after surviving two lethal injections, in a case that has raised many questions
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The Tennessee correction department said Pike had been taken to an off-site medical facility, while one of her lawyers said on Wednesday that she was being given "life-saving measures" in hospital.
On Thursday, lawyer Randy Spivey told reporters: "We don't have a sense of her prognosis or much update on her health at the moment."
Dr Joel Zivot, a professor at the Emory University School of Medicine, told the BBC in an email: "It's very possible that as a consequence of the delay of the beginning of resuscitation she [Pike] will have a brain injury."
Historically, the US Supreme Court has not halted second attempts at executions, said John Mills, a lawyer who works with inmates sentenced to death.
In 2024, it allowed Alabama to proceed with a second execution of Kenneth Eugene Smith, using an experimental oxygen deprivation method, after their attempt to kill him by lethal injection failed two years earlier.
A Supreme Court case from 1947 allowed the state of Louisiana to send Willie Francis, a teenager whose first execution attempt failed when he was 17 years old, back to the electric chair.
The court found a second execution would not violate the Constitution's prohibitions against double jeopardy or cruel and unusual punishment and Francis was executed aged 18.
"If the question is, is it likely the federal courts would intervene in a second attempt? I'm afraid the answer is a resounding no," Mills said of Pike's case.
Colleen Slemmer's killers met at a job training camp for troubled teens.
She was found with an inverted pentagram - a symbol associated with satanic groups - carved into her chest.
Pike had accused Colleen of insulting her and trying to steal her then-boyfriend, Tadaryl Shipp, who was 17.
Two other residents at the camp later testified that Pike had bragged about the murder and showed them a piece of Colleen's skull.
Colleen's mum, May Martinez, drove 11 hours from Florida to attend the execution, she told People, external, alongside with her husband Raul.
She said: "I wanted her [Pike] to remember who Colleen was and what they've done and never forget that thought, no matter where she goes."
Shipp was given a life sentence with the possibility of parole and he remains in prison.
He was spared the death penalty for his part in the attack because he was not yet legally an adult at the time.
Correction 1 October: This article originally referred to the inmate executed by the state of Louisiana in 1947 as Willie Smith. We have amended the article to make clear that his name was Willie Francis.
The Tennessee correction department said Pike had been taken to an off-site medical facility, while one of her lawyers said on Wednesday that she was being given "life-saving measures" in hospital.
On Thursday, lawyer Randy Spivey told reporters: "We don't have a sense of her prognosis or much update on her health at the moment."
Dr Joel Zivot, a professor at the Emory University School of Medicine, told the BBC in an email: "It's very possible that as a consequence of the delay of the beginning of resuscitation she [Pike] will have a brain injury."
Historically, the US Supreme Court has not halted second attempts at executions, said John Mills, a lawyer who works with inmates sentenced to death.
In 2024, it allowed Alabama to proceed with a second execution of Kenneth Eugene Smith, using an experimental oxygen deprivation method, after their attempt to kill him by lethal injection failed two years earlier.
A Supreme Court case from 1947 allowed the state of Louisiana to send Willie Francis, a teenager whose first execution attempt failed when he was 17 years old, back to the electric chair.
The court found a second execution would not violate the Constitution's prohibitions against double jeopardy or cruel and unusual punishment and Francis was executed aged 18.
"If the question is, is it likely the federal courts would intervene in a second attempt? I'm afraid the answer is a resounding no," Mills said of Pike's case.
Colleen Slemmer's killers met at a job training camp for troubled teens.
She was found with an inverted pentagram - a symbol associated with satanic groups - carved into her chest.
Pike had accused Colleen of insulting her and trying to steal her then-boyfriend, Tadaryl Shipp, who was 17.
Two other residents at the camp later testified that Pike had bragged about the murder and showed them a piece of Colleen's skull.
Colleen's mum, May Martinez, drove 11 hours from Florida to attend the execution, she told People, external, alongside with her husband Raul.
She said: "I wanted her [Pike] to remember who Colleen was and what they've done and never forget that thought, no matter where she goes."
Shipp was given a life sentence with the possibility of parole and he remains in prison.
He was spared the death penalty for his part in the attack because he was not yet legally an adult at the time.
Correction 1 October: This article originally referred to the inmate executed by the state of Louisiana in 1947 as Willie Smith. We have amended the article to make clear that his name was Willie Francis.
Read the full story at BBC ↗ · BBC ↗ · Axios ↗ · Axios ↗
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- The convicted killer is in hospital in Tennessee after surviving two lethal injections, in a case that has raised many questions