Botched Execution: Injustice to Victims

On Wednesday,  Sept. 30, the State of Tennessee botched the execution of convicted first-degree murderer Christa Pike. After several attempts to administer an injection of lethal pentobarbital failed, Pike was taken to a hospital and later regained consciousness.

The attempted execution was delayed for more than eight hours as the Supreme Court considered whether to halt her execution.

Pike was convicted in 1996 for the murder of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer the previous year “in a jealous rage.”  Both Pike and Slemmer were Job Corps workers. Her reason for “beating, torturing, and killing” Slemmer in a remote area was that she “just felt mean that day.” Pike and her boyfriend “slashed Slemmer with a box cutter and beat her with a large chunk of asphalt.” The killers also carved “a satanic symbol” into her body.

Attending the planned execution in Nashville was May Martinez, the victim’s mother. Ms. Martinez is angry that the execution was botched, saying that she “broke down in tears.” According to Ms. Martinez, Pike was “on the table, talking, still laughing.” After the failed execution, witnesses reported hearing Pike “breathing and snoring.”

None of this was fair to the victim’s family. Ms. Martinez rightly believes that she deserves an apology from the State of Tennessee. Sadly, no one has apologized to her for this embarrassing failure. She was only told that they did not know what would happen next.

This is cruel and unusual punishment for Ms. Martinez and her family. She said, “Here we are, 31 years, and she’s laughing in my face again…All I wanted was justice.” But Colleen Slemmer and her family still have no justice. It is outrageous that Pike and so many other convicted murderers remain on death row for years. 

These insufferable delays are a total denial of justice. In our criminal justice system, the priority is too often placed on the convicted murderers and not the victims.

The push for lethal injections was to limit the pain of convicted murderers. Since it is difficult to secure the proper drugs, and there are obvious problems in the administration, it is time to revert to methods that are much more reliable: the electric chair, lethal gas, and the firing squad.