US death row inmate survives two lethal injections

A US death row inmate has survived an execution attempt after officials administered two doses of lethal injection without killing her.

Christa Pike, 50, was taken to hospital after the two doses of pentobarbital failed during the execution at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville, Tennessee, on Wednesday.

Pike reportedly lost consciousness but continued to have a heartbeat, prompting her lawyers to file an emergency motion during the procedure.

Witnesses also reported that Pike complained to her spiritual adviser that the vein in her arm felt as though it was “about to burst open”.

Another witness said they heard a sound suggesting Pike was “almost choking”.

The execution began at about 8pm local time on Wednesday, corresponding to 1am on Thursday in Nigeria. Officials administered two syringes of pentobarbital, with the curtain to the witness room closed twice during the process.

Tennessee Governor Bill Lee has ordered “a comprehensive, third-party review to determine exactly what occurred” and said the state’s remaining scheduled execution for the year would not proceed as planned.

The Tennessee Department of Correction, however, said officials followed the state’s approved execution protocol, which provides for a second set of syringes if an inmate does not die after the first dose.

Pike was sentenced to death in 1996 for the 1995 murder of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer. She was 18 at the time of the killing and had accused Slemmer of insulting her and attempting to take her boyfriend.

Pike later said she intended to beat Slemmer but did not intend to kill her, describing herself at the time as “a mentally ill 18-year-old kid”.

The failed execution is the second in Tennessee this year to be disrupted. In May, Tony Carruthers’ execution was postponed after officials were unable to find a vein through which to administer the lethal drug.

The US Supreme Court had allowed Pike’s execution to proceed following a last-minute legal challenge, while authorities are now investigating what went wrong during the failed procedure.