Everything to Know About Christa Pike — From Her 1995 Murder Case to the Botched Execution Attempt

The failed execution of Christa Pike marked Tennessee's second unsuccessful attempt to carry out a death sentence within four months.

The convicted murderer, who was set to become the first woman executed by the State of Tennessee in more than 200 years, survived her September 30 execution attempt after receiving two doses of pentobarbital.

The incident came months after the May 21 execution attempt of death row inmate Tony Carruthers was halted. Carruthers had been sentenced to death for the 1994 murders of Marcellos Anderson, Delois Anderson and Frederick Tucker.

Here's everything to know about Christa's case, from the 1995 murder and her death sentence to the failed execution attempt.

On January 12, 1995, then-18-year-old Christa — alongside her boyfriend, Tadaryl Shipp, and her friend Shadolla Peterson — lured 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer to a secluded area near the University of Tennessee agricultural campus.

Prosecutors determined the group tortured Colleen before Tadaryl carved a pentagram into her body, according to The New York Times.

Christa and her co-defendants were arrested and charged within 36 hours of Colleen's body being found. Court records revealed a Tennessee Grounds Department employee mistook the remains for an animal carcass because of the severity of her injuries.

Following the killing, Tennessee prosecutors charged Christa with premeditated first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit first-degree murder. She was sentenced to death on March 30, 1996, after a Knox County jury convicted her on both counts.

Tadaryl, who was 17 at the time of the crime, was sentenced to life in prison and remains eligible for parole.

Meanwhile, Shadolla, who was 18 when the murder took place, agreed to plead guilty to being an accessory after the fact and testified against Christa. She ultimately received probation for her role as a lookout in the crime.

While incarcerated, Christa was also convicted of attempted first-degree murder for assaulting inmate Patricia Jones on August 24, 2001.

For nearly three decades following her conviction and death sentence, Christa pursued extensive appellate and post-conviction relief in state and federal courts, including the Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals, the Tennessee Supreme Court and the U.S. Supreme Court.

She has not denied killing Colleen, but her attorneys have challenged the sentence and cited mitigating factors that they argued were not adequately considered.

"I was a mentally ill 18-year-old girl who committed a crime with two other individuals and I was the only one to receive this sentence," Pike told The New York Times. "Now they want to torture me to death, after I've done the work to make myself mentally well."

Christa also sought executive clemency from Tennessee Governor Bill Lee, but the request was denied.

Christa's execution by lethal injection was scheduled for September 30 at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville.

She gave her last words at 7:26 p.m., per multiple reporters and news outlets. The execution team reportedly encountered difficulty establishing intravenous access and made multiple attempts to establish IV access before administering pentobarbital.

"None of it was normal," Catherine Sweeney, a reporter for WPLN, said, per CNN. "I covered all the executions last year and most of the ones this year. We haven't seen anything like it. It went really poorly."

Christa ultimately received two doses of the lethal injection drug, but she reportedly continued breathing and was heard snoring after the drug was administered. As a result, the execution was terminated, and she was transported to a hospital for emergency treatment.

Following the attempt, the Tennessee Department of Correction said in a statement officials followed the state's established execution protocol.

"The lethal injection chemical in the protocol has consistently been effective, and the protocol does not allow for additional procedures beyond what was carried out this evening. Christa Pike has been transported to an off-site medical facility," the statement read.

Christa's attorneys issued a separate statement, saying the state had not provided them with an update on her condition.

"Tonight the State of Tennessee once again failed to carry out a lawful execution," the lawyers said. "We take no pleasure in being right, but the concerns raised by Ms. Pike proved to be true: difficult vein access, blown veins, degraded pentobarbital, no emergency medical care available when things inevitably go wrong, all under a protocol that remains veiled in secrecy."

Speaking to Al Jazeera, Reprieve founder Clive Stafford Smith cited two possible explanations for the failed execution: the drugs could have been out if date or there may have been issues in administering the injections.

By the afternoon of October 2, Christa's attorneys said she was still alive, in critical condition and "receiving lifesaving medical care."

"She is being treated for the serious effects of the pentobarbital administered during the execution attempt, including significant injuries to both arms," the attorneys added in court documents filed that evening.

Then, on October 4, attorney Stephen Ferrell told CNN doctors were continuing efforts to clear pentobarbital from Christa's system.

"She's still in the hospital, on a ventilator, critically ill, we really don't know the prognosis yet, and may not know for several days," he said of Christa.

According to Stephen, he was not aware that his client had regained consciousness at any point since the execution attempt. He added he had been receiving updates through her medical power of attorney rather than directly from her treating physicians.

"She is guarded. I'm not sure who may have seen her," he continued.

In the aftermath, Governor Bill suspended all executions for the remainder of the year, while the head of the state's prison system announced plans to resign.

On October 10, her lawyers revealed she's been released from the hospital.

“Christa Pike was discharged from a local hospital and is now at Debra K. Johnson Rehabilitation Center, where she has been housed for more than 30 years,” her attorneys Ferrell, Luke Ihnen, Randy Spivey and Kelly Gleason, said in a statement.

“She is grateful to the first responders and her medical team for their care in these extraordinary circumstances,” Pike’s legal team continued.