We at the NC Coalition for Alternatives to the Death Penalty watched in horror this week as Tennessee carried out yet another torturous failed execution. State officials injected Christa Pike with multiple doses of lethal drugs before finally giving up as she writhed and called out in pain. She was sent to a hospital for life-saving treatment, but few details were available about her condition.
Ms. Pike was to be executed for the 1995 killing of Colleen Slemmer, a crime committed when Ms. Pike was just 18 years old. Like many of the 121 people on North Carolina’s death row, she was sentenced decades ago under outdated laws and without an adequate defense. A modern trial would have brought to light her severe mental illness and been far less likely to result in a death sentence.
This was Tennessee’s second failed execution this year. In May, the execution of Tony Carruthers was aborted after prison officials failed to find a vein.
“I cannot imagine the horror experienced by Christa Pike and by the witnesses to her execution, including Colleen Slemmer’s family,” said NCCADP Executive Director Noel Nickle. “This spectacle of violence did nothing to enhance public safety. It did, however, demonstrate very clearly that the death penalty is a cruel and unusual punishment.”
“Here in North Carolina, some leaders have expressed a desire to reopen North Carolina’s execution chamber. I hope they will look closely at our neighbors in Tennessee before they commit any more resources to such an inhumane and gruesome system as the death penalty. The time to abandon this awful punishment is now, before any more harm is done.”
