Death row inmate Christa Pike survives two lethal injections in Tennessee
A woman convicted of murdering a schoolmate 30 years ago has been taken to hospital after surviving two rounds of lethal injections in Tennessee. Christa Pike would have been the first woman to be executed in the state in 200 years. Pike, 50, has spent three decades on death row after she was convicted of the murder of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer in 1995. A last-minute appeal to stop the lethal injection was overturned by the supreme court, but the state governor, Bill Lee, has suspended executions in Tennessee for the rest of the year. Lucy Hough speaks to the attorney and anti-capital punishment campaigner Clive Stafford Smith – watch on YouTube
TL;DR
- Christa Pike survived two rounds of lethal injections.
- She was convicted of murdering Colleen Slemmer in 1995.
- Pike has spent 30 years on death row.
- Her execution would have been the first for a woman in Tennessee in 200 years.
- A last-minute appeal was overturned by the supreme court.
- Governor Bill Lee suspended Tennessee's executions for the rest of the year.
- Lucy Hough spoke with anti-capital punishment campaigner Clive Stafford Smith.