Christa Pike’s family was “excited” when her execution was bungled even though the convicted murderer was “ready to go,” according to her aunt.
Pike, 50, was set to become the first woman put to death in Tennessee for over 200 years on Sept. 30 but was instead rushed to hospital after two lethal injections.
“When they said she’s still breathing, we got excited thinking that she was going to make it,’ Pike’s aunt, Carrie Ross, told the Daily Mail.
Pike’s execution had originally been due to take place at 10 a.m., but with just an hour to go, the Court of Appeals granted a stay which was lifted in the evening by the US Supreme Court.
“She didn’t want the stay,” Ross told the outlet. “She was ready to go. She was at peace. She had accepted that whatever happened was not in her control. It was in God’s control.”
Here’s the latest on the botched execution of Tennessee murderer Christa Pike:
Pike was sentenced to death for the sadistic torture and murder of her 19-year-old Job Corps classmate Colleen Slemmer in Jan. 1995, when she was 18.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
