In the wake of the botched execution, a department spokesperson said it had “followed every step of the State’s legally established execution protocol, approved by the Attorney General’s Office” and that “chemical lethal injection in the protocol has been consistently effective.” Lee ordered an independent review to “determine exactly what happened” and said he would suspend all executions until the end of the year. He also announced that Corrections Commissioner Frank Strada would leave his position at the end of October. Strada said it was “in the best interest” of the state. But it remains unknown whether the state could attempt to execute Pike again, and this underscores an ethical paradox of the death penalty: that one must be considered healthy enough before the person can be executed. On Wednesday, Lee did not rule out the possibility of a second execution attempt: “I suspect his sentence will be the same as before,” he told reporters, “unless the courts determine otherwise.” Lee, who will leave office in January, has refused to commute Pike’s death sentence to life in prison. Republican Sen. Marsha Blackburn, who is running to replace him next month, said she would resume executions if elected and favors expanding available methods. His Democratic opponent, Jerri Green, has said she would block any execution while in office. Luke Ihnen, Christa Pike’s attorney, speaks during a court hearing Oct. 7 in Nashville. Lawyers for George Walker IV/Pool via APPike said they expect a “long legal battle” if Tennessee moves forward. This month, a judge sided with his defense team when he argued that the state must preserve evidence related to the attempted execution, including syringes, IVs, drugs and personnel records. At the time, state prosecutors said there were “no outstanding warrants” and that they had not heard of any. The mother of Pike’s victim, May Martinez, has said Tennessee needs to “correct this” and not remove Pike from death row. Martinez could not immediately be reached for comment. In 1995, Pike and two others worked together to torture, stab and beat to death Slemmer, a classmate in their Job Corps program in Knoxville. Investigators said Pike, then 18, viewed Slemmer as a romantic rival. Pike does not deny his involvement in the brutal murder. But her lawyers maintain that other factors, such as her age at the time and her upbringing marked by years of sexual and physical abuse and neglect, were not fully understood and shared with the jury that sentenced her to death. In his statement, Pike said: “I continue to think about my victim’s family and the terrible pain and loss they have endured.” Media witnesses recount the moments before Christa Pike’s execution was stopped on September 30 in Nashville. George Walker IV / AP She said she was also grateful for the first responders, doctors and nurses who “treated me with compassion, dignity and respect.” While he doesn’t know what his fate may be, he said he was left “searching for the meaning of what happened to me,” as he became the first person known to survive a lethal injection after the drugs had already been administered. “I don’t know why I survived that night,” he added. “I don’t know what comes next. Some days, finding hope is harder than others. For now, I’m trying to heal, one day at a time. And I’m holding on to the love and kindness of so many people who have reminded me that I’m not alone.”
