Crimeupdated 1h ago2 min read
Texas Executes Jamaal Howard With Pentobarbital After Tennessee Botched Execution of Christa Pike
Christa Pike survived a botched Tennessee lethal injection and woke up days later in hospital. Lawyers say she awoke conscious, angry, and confused, with arm injuries and pneumonia.
18 outlets told this the same way.
Botched execution, same drug
Texas executed 46-year-old Jamaal Howard on Wednesday, and the Associated Press reported he was pronounced dead at 8:03 p.m. after receiving a lethal dose of pentobarbital at a state prison in Huntsville.
The same lethal drug was used in Tennessee in the botched execution attempt of Christa Pike, where officials administered the same drug but she survived.
Pike was sentenced to death for the 1995 murder of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer, and Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee ordered a third-party investigation and halted executions in the state for the rest of the year.
Pike’s attorneys said executioners struggled to place IV lines and that an emergency motion described attempts to gain IV access using “at least seven needles,” with one needle “bent in a 90-degree angle when it was removed.”
Pike wakes, evidence preserved
Randy Spivey told reporters that Christa Pike woke up and began talking, and he said, “In the midst of everyone’s shock, including mine, and her team, and the medical team, Christa woke up and began to speak.” Pike’s lawyers said “Monday night, our understanding was that Christa was brain dead, and life support would be removed the next day,” but on Tuesday she “woke up and began talking.”
A judge ordered Tennessee state officials to preserve evidence from the failed execution, and the judge ordered the state to preserve a broad range of physical evidence such as IVs and syringes. Pike’s legal team said she woke up “angry and confused” and asked “where am I?” after the emergency hearing.
What comes next in court
Pike’s legal team said preserving evidence was “just the first step in a long legal battle,” and a judge ordered the state to preserve “all communications and surveillance video.”
Chancellor I’Ashea Myles granted an order requiring the Tennessee Department of Correction to preserve “relevant evidence” of its failed attempt, including “drugs, IV lines, needles, catheters, medical supplies, restraints, gurneys.”
Luke Ihnen told the court, “The state has made no promises that Ms. Pike will not be subject to a future execution,” and Will Ayers told the court there was “no allegation that one is coming.”
Tennessee’s Republican Governor Bill Lee ordered a halt to carrying out other death penalty sentences after the botched execution, and Lee said, “Carrying out a lawfully imposed sentence is among the State’s most serious responsibilities.”