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The disturbing connections between Tennessee executions and assisted dying
A second botched execution by lethal injection in Tennessee, which left an inmate alive and in clear physical distress, has led to a halt of executions and a review into the process — one which is disturbingly similar in some ways to so-called 'assisted dying.'
In 1995, Christa Pike confessed to the murders of Colleen Slemmer and two other people, and was sentenced to death. A stay on her execution was overturned.
Pike's execution was botched, and she was taken to the hospital after two attempts to kill her by lethal injection failed. This is the second botched execution by lethal injection in Tennessee so far this year.
Governor Bill Lee has now halted all scheduled executions, and asked for an independent review be conducted into the lethal injection process.
This matters, because the drugs used in executions are often the same as those used in assisted suicide/euthanasia, and these deaths are often far less peaceful and quick than many realize.
In 1995, an 18-year-old Pike believed 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer was trying to steal her boyfriend, 17-year-old Tadaryl Shipp. Three people — Pike, Shipp, and 18-year-old Shadolla Peterson — lured Slemmer to an isolated wooded area, where Pike and Shipp beat and tortured Slemmer before killing her. Within 36 hours, all three were arrested, and Pike immediately waived her Miranda rights and confessed to the murder.
While all three were charged with first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, Peterson took a plea deal and served as a witness for the prosecution, receiving only probation. Shipp was found guilty and was sentenced to life in prison; Pike, however, was given the death penalty.
In 2004, Pike was found guilty of the attempted murder of another inmate but claimed her attempted murder was an effort to protect the other inmates from her. One of the inmates testified that Pike's actions likely saved her life. Pike's attorneys tried to have her death penalty sentence overturned due to suffering extremely traumatic events in her formative years, and just before the scheduled September 30 execution, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit issued a stay. The Supreme Court quickly overturned the stay, allowing the execution to move forward.
When the execution attempt took place, witnesses were present but Pike did not die as expected after the first set of syringes were administered. Per protocol, after five minutes, a second set of syringes were given; again, Pike did not die and was reportedly moving, talking, and complaining of pain. She said her arm was burning and painful, saying it felt like it was "going to burst." She lifted her head up off the gurney and kicked her feet so much that the sheet covering her fell off.
WPLN Reporter Catherine Sweeney described Pike's breathing as "very ragged" and complaining that "there was a spot that was burning and hurting and asked if that was normal. None of it was normal."
Tori Gessner, a reporter and anchor at WKRN of Nashville, said she has witnessed five executions, and strongly agreed that this was not a normal experience. She said Pike claimed her "arm feels like it's about to burst open" and then began "breathing, moaning, snoring... and she was clearly still alive." The curtains were closed, then opened, then closed again, all while witnesses heard Pike continuing to snore.
May Martinez, Slemmer's mother, also said witnesses were not given any information about what had happened, saying that the execution was attempted, but "she didn't die," and then "they asked all the victims to leave," and they were unaware of what had transpired until later when they were told it had failed and "she's on her way to the hospital."
Pike remained conscious throughout, and at some point was transported to the hospital by ambulance. Her attorneys said her current condition is not known, though she is reportedly still alive. Dr Joel Zivot, a professor at the Emory University School of Medicine, told the BBC, "It's very possible that as a consequence of the delay of the beginning of resuscitation she will have a brain injury."
Pike's attorneys said in a statement to USA TODAY, "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."
This is the second time so far this year that an execution has been botched in Tennessee, after the failed attempted execution of Tony Carruthers in May in which the execution team repeatedly failed to establish an IV line to deliver the fatal drugs after multiple attempts. A central line was then attempted, but that failed as well. He was said to be groaning in pain and "oozing blood."
Dr. John Greer, a retired Nashville hematologist, told NPR placing a central line is difficult, and should only be attempted by trained health care workers who specialize in that procedure; as the BBC reported:
"Placing a central line is not just sticking a needle in a person's arm," he said.
Greer said the doctor has to tap a large vessel above the heart. He said that it's a risky procedure in which an error could cause a collapsed lung or heavy bleeding — and that only those with specific training and routine practice should attempt.
"And I cannot imagine that there would be someone who's doing these routinely who would be involved in this procedure," Greer said.
Following this, Carruthers was granted a one-year reprieve.
The drugs used in executions are often the same as those used in assisted suicide, and as witnessed by Pike and Carruthers, these deaths are far more grisly than many realize.
Many assume that lethal injection and euthanasia merely cause someone to fall asleep and then die painlessly, but in reality, the drugs cause pulmonary edema. This means the person's lungs fill with fluid, and he/she drowns in his/her own secretions.
But because the person is given a paralytic first, both in lethal injections and euthanasia, it is therefore impossible to know what pain or suffering the person might be experiencing.
Experiments with assisted suicide and euthanasia have also been excruciating, with one cocktail said to be “burning patients’ mouths and throats, causing some to scream in pain.”
These are not peaceful, humane deaths, whether during execution or euthanasia.
Zivot said in a previous op-ed
The death penalty is not the same as assisted dying, of course. Executions are meant to be punishment; euthanasia is about relief from suffering.
Yet for both euthanasia and executions, paralytic drugs are used. These drugs, given in high enough doses, mean that a patient cannot move a muscle, cannot express any outward or visible sign of pain.
But that doesn’t mean that he or she is free from suffering.
Though this was the second botched execution this year, and media witnesses stressed how abnormal the situation was, the Tennessee Department of Corrections initially insisted otherwise.
"The Tennessee Department of Correction followed every step of the State’s lawful, established execution protocol approved by the Attorney General’s Office," department spokesperson Dorinda Carter told the Tennessean. "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."
However, in a statement, Lee said he had halted any future executions, though he had previously refused after Carruthers' botched execution. "The Department of Correction did exactly what they should," he said. "It should not affect executions in the future."
Yet now, after the second failure, he has altered course.
“Carrying out a lawfully imposed sentence is among the state’s most serious responsibilities,” he said. “The people of Tennessee expect it to be done in a manner that is not only legal and constitutional, but is effective.”
He also called for an independent third-party review to be conducted into the lethal injection process.
Four executions were scheduled to be carried out in Tennessee this year; two (Carruthers and Pike) were botched, while one was carried out without incident. There is one more that had been scheduled to take place in December, though it has been halted for now.
Live Action News is pro-life news and commentary from a pro-life perspective.
Our work is possible because of our donors. Please consider giving to further our work of changing hearts and minds on issues of life and human dignity.
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Guest Articles: To submit a guest article to Live Action News, email editor@liveaction.org with an attached Word document of 800-1000 words. Please also attach any photos relevant to your submission if applicable. If your submission is accepted for publication, you will be notified within three weeks. Guest articles are not compensated (see our Open License Agreement). Thank you for your interest in Live Action News!
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·The disturbing connections between Tennessee executions and assisted dying
A second botched execution by lethal injection in Tennessee, which left an inmate alive and in clear physical distress, has led to a halt of executions and a review into the process — one which is disturbingly similar in some ways to so-called 'assisted dying.'
In 1995, Christa Pike confessed to the murders of Colleen Slemmer and two other people, and was sentenced to death. A stay on her execution was overturned.
Pike's execution was botched, and she was taken to the hospital after two attempts to kill her by lethal injection failed. This is the second botched execution by lethal injection in Tennessee so far this year.
Governor Bill Lee has now halted all scheduled executions, and asked for an independent review be conducted into the lethal injection process.
This matters, because the drugs used in executions are often the same as those used in assisted suicide/euthanasia, and these deaths are often far less peaceful and quick than many realize.
In 1995, an 18-year-old Pike believed 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer was trying to steal her boyfriend, 17-year-old Tadaryl Shipp. Three people — Pike, Shipp, and 18-year-old Shadolla Peterson — lured Slemmer to an isolated wooded area, where Pike and Shipp beat and tortured Slemmer before killing her. Within 36 hours, all three were arrested, and Pike immediately waived her Miranda rights and confessed to the murder.
While all three were charged with first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, Peterson took a plea deal and served as a witness for the prosecution, receiving only probation. Shipp was found guilty and was sentenced to life in prison; Pike, however, was given the death penalty.
In 2004, Pike was found guilty of the attempted murder of another inmate but claimed her attempted murder was an effort to protect the other inmates from her. One of the inmates testified that Pike's actions likely saved her life. Pike's attorneys tried to have her death penalty sentence overturned due to suffering extremely traumatic events in her formative years, and just before the scheduled September 30 execution, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit issued a stay. The Supreme Court quickly overturned the stay, allowing the execution to move forward.
When the execution attempt took place, witnesses were present but Pike did not die as expected after the first set of syringes were administered. Per protocol, after five minutes, a second set of syringes were given; again, Pike did not die and was reportedly moving, talking, and complaining of pain. She said her arm was burning and painful, saying it felt like it was "going to burst." She lifted her head up off the gurney and kicked her feet so much that the sheet covering her fell off.
WPLN Reporter Catherine Sweeney described Pike's breathing as "very ragged" and complaining that "there was a spot that was burning and hurting and asked if that was normal. None of it was normal."
Tori Gessner, a reporter and anchor at WKRN of Nashville, said she has witnessed five executions, and strongly agreed that this was not a normal experience. She said Pike claimed her "arm feels like it's about to burst open" and then began "breathing, moaning, snoring... and she was clearly still alive." The curtains were closed, then opened, then closed again, all while witnesses heard Pike continuing to snore.
May Martinez, Slemmer's mother, also said witnesses were not given any information about what had happened, saying that the execution was attempted, but "she didn't die," and then "they asked all the victims to leave," and they were unaware of what had transpired until later when they were told it had failed and "she's on her way to the hospital."
Pike remained conscious throughout, and at some point was transported to the hospital by ambulance. Her attorneys said her current condition is not known, though she is reportedly still alive. Dr Joel Zivot, a professor at the Emory University School of Medicine, told the BBC, "It's very possible that as a consequence of the delay of the beginning of resuscitation she will have a brain injury."
Pike's attorneys said in a statement to USA TODAY, "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."
This is the second time so far this year that an execution has been botched in Tennessee, after the failed attempted execution of Tony Carruthers in May in which the execution team repeatedly failed to establish an IV line to deliver the fatal drugs after multiple attempts. A central line was then attempted, but that failed as well. He was said to be groaning in pain and "oozing blood."
Dr. John Greer, a retired Nashville hematologist, told NPR placing a central line is difficult, and should only be attempted by trained health care workers who specialize in that procedure; as the BBC reported:
"Placing a central line is not just sticking a needle in a person's arm," he said.
Greer said the doctor has to tap a large vessel above the heart. He said that it's a risky procedure in which an error could cause a collapsed lung or heavy bleeding — and that only those with specific training and routine practice should attempt.
"And I cannot imagine that there would be someone who's doing these routinely who would be involved in this procedure," Greer said.
Following this, Carruthers was granted a one-year reprieve.
The drugs used in executions are often the same as those used in assisted suicide, and as witnessed by Pike and Carruthers, these deaths are far more grisly than many realize.
Many assume that lethal injection and euthanasia merely cause someone to fall asleep and then die painlessly, but in reality, the drugs cause pulmonary edema. This means the person's lungs fill with fluid, and he/she drowns in his/her own secretions.
But because the person is given a paralytic first, both in lethal injections and euthanasia, it is therefore impossible to know what pain or suffering the person might be experiencing.
Experiments with assisted suicide and euthanasia have also been excruciating, with one cocktail said to be “burning patients’ mouths and throats, causing some to scream in pain.”
These are not peaceful, humane deaths, whether during execution or euthanasia.
Zivot said in a previous op-ed
The death penalty is not the same as assisted dying, of course. Executions are meant to be punishment; euthanasia is about relief from suffering.
Yet for both euthanasia and executions, paralytic drugs are used. These drugs, given in high enough doses, mean that a patient cannot move a muscle, cannot express any outward or visible sign of pain.
But that doesn’t mean that he or she is free from suffering.
Though this was the second botched execution this year, and media witnesses stressed how abnormal the situation was, the Tennessee Department of Corrections initially insisted otherwise.
"The Tennessee Department of Correction followed every step of the State’s lawful, established execution protocol approved by the Attorney General’s Office," department spokesperson Dorinda Carter told the Tennessean. "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."
However, in a statement, Lee said he had halted any future executions, though he had previously refused after Carruthers' botched execution. "The Department of Correction did exactly what they should," he said. "It should not affect executions in the future."
Yet now, after the second failure, he has altered course.
“Carrying out a lawfully imposed sentence is among the state’s most serious responsibilities,” he said. “The people of Tennessee expect it to be done in a manner that is not only legal and constitutional, but is effective.”
He also called for an independent third-party review to be conducted into the lethal injection process.
Four executions were scheduled to be carried out in Tennessee this year; two (Carruthers and Pike) were botched, while one was carried out without incident. There is one more that had been scheduled to take place in December, though it has been halted for now.
Live Action News is pro-life news and commentary from a pro-life perspective.
Our work is possible because of our donors. Please consider giving to further our work of changing hearts and minds on issues of life and human dignity.
Contact editor@liveaction.org for questions, corrections, or if you are seeking permission to reprint any Live Action News content.
Guest Articles: To submit a guest article to Live Action News, email editor@liveaction.org with an attached Word document of 800-1000 words. Please also attach any photos relevant to your submission if applicable. If your submission is accepted for publication, you will be notified within three weeks. Guest articles are not compensated (see our Open License Agreement). Thank you for your interest in Live Action News!
Carole Novielli
·Issues
Nancy Flanders
·Analysis
Cassy Cooke
·Analysis
Nancy Flanders
·Analysis
Cassy Cooke
·Analysis
Nancy Flanders
·International
Cassy Cooke
·International
Cassy Cooke
·Politics
Cassy Cooke
·Analysis
Cassy Cooke
·Politics
Cassy Cooke
·