US death row inmate stuck 10 times as executioners failed to find vein — and survived

Tennessee corrections officials stuck a death row inmate with needles about 10 times after failing to find a suitable vein during a botched execution, it has emerged.

Randy Spivey, an attorney for death row inmate Christa Pike, said corrections officials spent roughly an hour securing intravenous lines in both of Pike's arms, according to the Associated Press on Thursday (local time).

During the Sept. 30 execution attempt, officials spent six minutes trying to locate a vein in Pike's right arm.

Finding a vein in her left arm proved far more difficult. Officials used about 10 needles in multiple spots on both arms during the process. Pike was seen grimacing in pain throughout.

Corrections officials also expressed doubt about whether the IV line in Pike's left arm had been properly secured, with some remarking that the vein may have ruptured.

Officials ultimately proceeded with the execution after concluding they had secured the left arm vein. But after the drug began to flow, Pike cried out that her arm felt like it was going to burst and was burning.

Pike received two doses of the lethal drug pentobarbital but did not die. She was transferred to a hospital and regained consciousness about a week later.

Tennessee regulations require a second dose to be administered if the first does not result in death. However, the rules do not specify what procedure to follow if the inmate survives the second dose as well.

Pike's attorneys held a press conference on Oct. 7 (local time), saying she "seems to be angry and confused about everything" and appeared furious over the failed execution, The New York Times reported.

The attorneys said Pike was unable to use either arm, describing extensive blood clots, blisters and burn-like injuries on both.

One attorney said Pike's hands had swollen so severely they looked "like surgical gloves blown up with air."

Controversy over the botched execution continues to mount.

Pike's legal team called for the state to preserve all evidence from the execution attempt, including the syringes and drugs used. Tennessee suspended all executions scheduled for this year following the failed attempt and launched an investigation. Frank Strada, the state corrections commissioner overseeing the matter, is set to step down by the end of this month.

Pike's attorneys also argued that she had already suffered enough through the state's execution attempt, and called for her to serve the rest of her life in prison rather than face another execution.

Pike was sentenced to death for the 1995 murder of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer, whom she killed alongside her boyfriend when she was 18.