Recently released dispatch audio has highlighted the confusion among Tennessee prison officials when they sought assistance after Christa Pike survived a failed execution attempt—one dispatcher initially thought it might be a prank call.
Pike, sentenced to death for the brutal murder of a college classmate in 1995, was the first death row inmate to survive a lethal injection on September 30. She received two doses of pentobarbital during the execution attempt.
The initial 911 call came in at approximately 8:40 p.m., about an hour after the first dose was administered. The caller indicated that Pike, now 50, had been given “10 grams of pentobarbital” but requested an ambulance since “the person is not yet deceased.”
The caller couldn’t provide a verification code to substantiate the claim, leading the dispatcher to reach out to the Tennessee Department of Correction Central Control at 8:49 p.m. for confirmation.
“We are trying to find out if that is an actual thing that is happening and we need to send an ambulance or if this is someone that is basically prank-calling or like swatting us,” she noted during the call.
However, around 9:03 p.m., the dispatcher stated that she had been told it was a false alarm and no medical assistance was necessary at Riverbend Prison, based on the audio recording.
Yet, just minutes later, a responder informed them that someone at the prison gate was insisting the emergency was legitimate.
“Somebody is outside the gate at the prison telling us that it’s real and demanding us to go in. They say they are some sort of state official. I need somebody to get out to the gate and talk to those people,” the responder reported.
It wasn’t until 9:11 p.m. that prison officials confirmed the legitimacy of the call for help, as per the call logs.
Pike had been strapped to a gurney in the death chamber for about an hour while medical staff attempted to administer the injection, facing difficulties with at least seven needles. One needle reportedly bent almost completely when removed from her arm, as described by her attorney, Randy Spivey.
Witnesses reported loud snoring sounds from behind the curtain, prompting officials to evacuate the viewing room. Pike was taken to the hospital unconscious, with her lawyers concerned that she may have suffered brain death. Remarkably, she regained consciousness six days later.
Pike was released from the hospital on Saturday and returned to prison, where she continues to receive medical treatment, according to her legal team.
