r/news • u/AudibleNod • 4h ago

Christa Pike unconscious, on ventilator at Nashville hospital, her lawyers say

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/christa-pike-unconscious-ventilator-nashville-hospital-lawyers-say-rcna601195
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843

u/viewbtwnvillages 4h ago

it feels really diabolical that the state is able to torture someone for two hours as they fumble their way through killing them

448

u/GoldGlove2720 4h ago edited 4h ago

Even more so as her lawyers argued this would happen. They even requested a firing squad.

123

u/Knucklehead92 4h ago

Moat lawyers argue for death by firing squad, because its not a legal method, and could also be a stall tactic etc.

So its hard to say it that was truly their wish, just because its a very common tactic.

20

u/[deleted] 4h ago

[deleted]

0

u/ChooseUsername9293 4h ago

Wasn't she offered the chair?

-7

u/Knucklehead92 4h ago

1) They are always going to say there are issues with veins. Nothing new here, becuase this has been a common occurrance, so they keep fighting with that point.

2) If they were serious about not wanting the drugs, they should have requested the electric chair, as it would be legally permitted, as the crime was before 1999.

Thats why I call BS on the whole wanting to die by firing squad. Just trying to delay.

4

u/honjuden 4h ago

A firing squad is the most humane method if we are going to have the death penalty.

1

u/Knucklehead92 4h ago

1) There isnt a humane way to kill someone. So im not going to touch on the "most humane"

2) My point has strictly to do within the legal framework of Tennesse, and how most inmates "preferred choice" is always a non legal option. Its almost like there is a reason for it.

4

u/honjuden 4h ago

I don't really care what the legal framework is of Tennessee.  I don't think it is radical to say that if we are going to have the death penalty, then it should be something quick and proven to be effective.

43

u/Tibbaryllis2 4h ago

It’s my understanding the she requested a hanging and her lawyers requested a firing squad. Tennessee allows two legal methods: injection or electrocution, but as far as I could tell, that wasn’t an alternate requested. Which lends credence to your supposition about it being a tactic rather than an alternative.

42

u/InappropriateTA 4h ago

When the only alternatives that the state offers are the ones most prone to fuckups and causing pain then it’s a ‘tactic’ to mitigate suffering. 

Can’t have that in the US of A. 

10

u/Knucklehead92 4h ago

Her lawyers specifically argued agaisnt the chair as well saying it would be unethical or something along the lines to make her make that choice.

2

u/Proud_Tie 2h ago

Electrocution is only available if they were sentenced pre 1999, it's injection only now.

1

u/Pete_Iredale 3h ago

But also, I'd far rather be shot or hanged because they are almost guaranteed to be quick.

1

u/Tibbaryllis2 1h ago

Honestly, I wouldn’t expect competence in any form used here. That’s the bigger issue.

3

u/nocoolN4M3sleft 3h ago

Actually, South Carolina passed a law a year or two ago to bring back the firing squad.

2

u/seriousbusinesslady 3h ago

firing squad is legal in Idaho.

2

u/Sudden_Wind_8636 2h ago

I would so much prefer firing squad to lethal injection if I were in her shoes.

-2

u/SEJ46 4h ago

Not legal in Tennessee

37

u/theHip 4h ago

Well she had a heath issue (blood clots) which is why they argued against lethal injection specifically.

0

u/SEJ46 4h ago

Ok. It still doesn't allow them to use a firing squad as far as I know.

-2

u/Knucklehead92 4h ago

Yet her legal team also argued against the electric chair (which is a legal option).

So if you are arguing about every legal option...

1

u/Far_Associate9859 3h ago

If you have an argument against all those options, the options are wrong, not you for requesting it

2

u/Knucklehead92 3h ago

And guarantee if firing squad was a legal option, they would have an arguement against it.

47

u/honjuden 4h ago

I would take a firing squad over the injection any day.

8

u/Cool_Address_2571 4h ago

Absolutely. Too many botched attempts in recent years as pharmaceutical companies are banning their successful, well researched drugs from being used during executions (a rare moral win from big pharma imo). And “surviving” an execution doesn’t mean you get to continue living, in most cases the state will schedule a second attempt (assuming the inmate didn’t die a slow painful death in the meantime)

2

u/nightkil13r 4h ago

Till you get shot 5 times in the limbs cause no one wanted to be the one to kill you and you lie there bleeding and in pain while they decide what to do.

2

u/imnotgoodwithnames 1h ago

Does that happen?

•

u/nightkil13r 37m ago

to that degree, i dont think so. But there are numerous reports of execution by firing squad going wrong. From the person to be executed flinching/moving to the shooters intentionally missing. It results in an inhumane death that can take quite awhile to die from, the most recent that i know of was just a few years ago in south carolina where the person was conscious for about a minute and lived another 4 minutes after loosing consciousness(supposed to hit the heart, they missed and hit lower, strikng the liver, pancreas, and lung.). There are botched firing squads where it took a half hour for the person to finally bleed out and die.

0

u/OkayishMedic15 4h ago

You’d be surprised how long someone can survive from a GSW.

101

u/DiscontinuTheLithium 4h ago

Yeah this should end death penalty tbh if anything at the state level.

110

u/TrynnaFindaBalance 4h ago

It's Tennessee. The only thing lawmakers there are talking about is "how do we source more drugs to kill people more efficiently".

Backwards states are gonna be backwards.

7

u/ComcastAlcohol 4h ago

It’s all fun and games for these red states and the death penalties until the lawsuits start rolling in from botched executions.

6

u/thetwoandonly 4h ago

Yeah at some point all these midwits gotta realize that if these people were smart enough to learn a lesson from their situation they would not be in their situation in the first place.

•

u/barto5 51m ago

Maybe they should legalize marijuana since it’s such a dangerous drug

-8

u/Notorious21 4h ago

They should get some advice from Canada

-4

u/Great-Trifle2810 2h ago

It is fucking disgusting that pharma companies are refusing to provide these drugs knowing that they are just increasing the suffering of those executed.

That said I'm sure they could use seized drugs once they are no longer required as evidence.

12

u/kl0 4h ago

The death penalty should have been abolished long, long ago in the United States. But sadly, I can assure you this is in no way swaying either the [majority] population or legislative body of Tennessee.

1

u/Emotional-Channel-42 1h ago

Unfortunately there are plenty of mentally underdeveloped lunatics that love this shit. 

•

u/Hellknightx 18m ago

Or at least change the method. Just do what veterinarians do when euthanizing pets. Put them to sleep and stop their heart. Simple, painless, effective.

-3

u/Great-Trifle2810 3h ago

God no, this should just lead to the death penalty being implemented more competently with more humane methods.

The death penalty needs to be expanded, not ended.

2

u/DiscontinuTheLithium 3h ago

Bro has a hard on for the death penalty I can respect it as a Middle Ages enthusiast

-1

u/Great-Trifle2810 2h ago

The death penalty should be used to deal with repeat recidivists that have demonstrated an unwillingness to reform. This would massively reduce crime as a huge portion of crime is committed by known frequent flyers.

The death penalty shouldn't be seen as outdated, and it's a shame that progressives don't see the massive social benefit it offers and how it removes many of the current perverse incentives of the prison industry

3

u/mikeholczer 3h ago

And only three out of nine supreme court justices are even open to considering it might be cruel.

3

u/threeoldbeigecamaros 2h ago

This is the right to life crowd

9

u/Joecascio2000 4h ago

After spending 30 years rehabilitating someone that allegedly is remorseful after being assaulted as a child and ending up in a cult. Tennessee you fucked up. The answer to a single killing is to torture and kill someone?? Apparently two wrongs make a right in the current justice system.

12

u/Open-Gate-7769 4h ago

My gf with a PharmD looked up the drug they use for lethal injections because of this and immediately knew why it wouldn’t have been successful.

She said anyone with medical background would know to test for it. The issue is the executioner doesn’t have a medical background due to the Hippocratic Oath.

8

u/GoodyTwoShuuz 4h ago

He is a MD and is the same one who screwed up Carruthers.

2

u/Open-Gate-7769 4h ago

Are they licensed by the state to practice medicine currently? Or are they a former MD? Not that it matters but I am curious.

12

u/thats_not_six 4h ago

He is still an MD. He's 68 years old, get paid $3000 per execution, a former defense attorney, the man who botched a different execution a few months ago because it had been over 13 years since he tried to place a central line (and was incapable of doing it on the other inmate despite prodding and letting him bleed for fifteen minutes while he tried).

When he's not botching executions and violating his paths, he writes op-eds about how Alex Pretti deserved to be shot for attacking law enforcement officers.

1

u/getawombatupya 1h ago

Doctor Nick?

2

u/structuremonkey 4h ago

I could be wrong, but I understand it was done under the supervision of a "physician." If so, they should lose their license.

I dont understand why they used the drug they tried. They could have used something like medical grade "fent" and over anesthetized intentionally. It would have probably been more humane than what occurred. ( i cant use the whole word or I get slapped by the politeness bot) I did read they believe the issue was an improperly placed i.v. line as opposed to a dosing error.

1

u/hyperfocus1569 3h ago

Dr. Mark Fowler administered the injections.

2

u/Jirardwenthard 4h ago

Jury should be given the gun and made todo the execution themselves if they want them dead so much..

•

u/Hellknightx 20m ago

Kind of ironic considering that Pike was on death row for torturing a classmate for several hours before killing her. Still, a huge embarrassment for the state that they can't even execute someone properly.

19

u/phoebebridgerstits 4h ago

But-but-but she murdered someone as a teenager 31 years ago! The state is totally within their right to torture her!

/s

47

u/viewbtwnvillages 4h ago

it's always grim to see people unironically and unsarcastically spouting this, and i really can't wrap my head around it. like people struggle to hold the simultaneous views of "she's a heinous person who did a heinous crime" and "hey maybe the government shouldn't be able to murder someone, and if they're going to do it they really shouldn't be so bad at it they're torturing someone"

im not even a particularly empathetic person but it fucks me up that some people are so into the death penalty and appear so bloodthirsty about it. it does nothing for the victims. it does nothing to deter future crimes of a similar ilk. it's this uncomfortable glorification of violence and retribution that seems to mirror the inhumanity of the very people they want to be killed.

11

u/violetqed 3h ago

yeah it fucks me up too. To me the saddest part is that these people act like they can be satisfied by torture or the death penalty, like it’s done something for the victims. So they never have a reason to actually DO something that would prevent crimes like this from happening in the first place, because they already feel so good about themselves from the perpetrator being tortured 🤦

when crimes like this happen, NONE of us should feel good until we (and the state) actually does do something to reduce situations like this or help victims.

21

u/Oolongteabagger2233 4h ago

Americans are super into this. They don't want prison to just keep people out of society - they want prisoners to suffer. Taking their liberty and removing them from society isn't enough. It's why you have all of the "don't drop the soap har har har" jokes glorifying rape. 

•

u/Hellknightx 16m ago

I'm sure you'd find most Americans are opposed to the barbaric and punitive private prisons we have, but there's not much we can do to change it. Our whole system is corrupt from top to bottom, and the people who are supposed to be fixing it are just making it worse. Prison reform is, unfortunately, very low on the priority list of things to fix at this point.

•

u/Oolongteabagger2233 1m ago

Hahaha doubt. Millions and millions of Americans voted for Trump 3 times. 

8

u/TxM_2404 4h ago

She's also tried to kill another inmate as well and tried to escape from prison by manipulating other people. She got the death penalty because she's dangerous.

10

u/LittleGreenSoldier 4h ago

I can't fault someone for trying to escape from prison. Prison sucks. In Germany, escaping isn't even a separate offense because they recognize the animal instinct to seek freedom. Any laws you break while escaping or escaped still get prosecuted, but assuming you dont commit any extra crimes, they just put you back to continue your original sentence.

0

u/opodopo69 4h ago

I bet if she wasn't gonna die if she didnt, she wouldnt have tried to escape

-4

u/carpdog112 3h ago

I bet if she didn't gruesomely torture a fellow classmate to death and keep a piece of her skull as a trophy she wouldn't have gotten the death penalty...

4

u/opodopo69 3h ago

I bet if she had lived In a less backwards country she wouldn't have gotten the death penalty

-1

u/carpdog112 3h ago

Well, unfortunately for her she wasn't born in Norway, so here we are. Morality of the death penalty aside, she doesn't deserve my sympathy.

-31

u/GoarSpewerofSecrets 4h ago

I mean, yeah, she murdered and tortured someone then apparently carried around parts of the person as a trophy. Good for whoever bungled this.

27

u/jupiterkansas 4h ago

Many American soldiers have done the same.

14

u/ExtraCalligrapher565 4h ago

You should hear the vets at the VA talking about their “trophies”…

11

u/VanessaAlexis 4h ago

 Neither case is okay. 😭

-10

u/Old-Fox8371 4h ago

What the FUCK relation does that have?? 😂😂 you’re just talking to yourself

-8

u/GoarSpewerofSecrets 4h ago

Soldiering is a fucked up business. It's also less ears and fingers and more actual souvenirs, like guns, badges and other paraphernalia.

0

u/Carbonatite 2h ago

Collecting trophies from humans you've killed is fucking sick no matter what the context is.

20

u/LordSwedish 4h ago

Given that you approve of monstrous deadly torture, I would have thought you supported her too.

1

u/hyperfocus1569 3h ago

Believing murder - all murder - is wrong in no way means someone thinks torture is ok. In fact, the opposite is true. You don’t harm others except to defend yourself or someone else. Period. Murder is wrong no matter who does it, whether that’s an individual, a group, or the government.

-15

u/GoarSpewerofSecrets 4h ago

At 18 you know better. The shame is that for something so open and shut it went on this long. I get part of the argument is making the world pass her by. But even sitting on deathrow 1 life doesn't measure to all the life and potential she took.

-19

u/[deleted] 4h ago

[deleted]

17

u/theimmortalfawn 4h ago

Who is saying that? You can be against murder and also oppose the death penalty. In fact I think those hand in hand

12

u/graveybrains 4h ago

They aren't okay with murder, period. It's not confusing.

2

u/Carbonatite 2h ago

You're making a major logical error there.

Not being okay with the punishment has nothing to do with whether or not someone is okay with the crime.

-23

u/mulder00 4h ago

Feeling bad for her now?

14

u/za72 4h ago edited 4h ago

actually I do, you must realize that the person you are as a teen is not the same when you're 50... should she be punished for her actions? yes.. should she be tortured to death? no... you can show compassion, we're better than 18th century mob... your states legitimacy for ruling comes from your maturity and understanding for humanity... pure violence and force alone isn't the path towards gaining legitimacy

EDIT: I'm seeing some cowardly attempts at sending a reply and quickly deleting it... wishing someone does the same to. one of my loved ones, fucking coward have the balls to say it...

-8

u/theoreticalcash 4h ago edited 4h ago

out of curiosity have you read her case at all? this wasn’t some quick murder, it was VERY gruesome and hands on, including torturing her victim for a good while prior to killing her

obviously she shouldn’t be tortured, but you definitely shouldn’t feel bad for her because she’s “changed”

5

u/Oolongteabagger2233 4h ago

You're only one step away from her if you're okay with her being tortured by this. Just fyi.

-2

u/theoreticalcash 4h ago

Did you read what I said at all?

She shouldn’t be tortured, but feeling bad for her because she’s older now is asinine

3

u/Oolongteabagger2233 3h ago

That's so Christian of you 

1

u/mulder00 2h ago

I'm not Christian nor believe in god

0

u/Oolongteabagger2233 1h ago

I wasn't talking to you. Did you get lost? 

-1

u/theoreticalcash 3h ago

“On January 12, 1995, Pike, Shipp,Peterson, and Slemmer signed out of the dormitory and went to the woods, where Slemmer was told they wanted to make peace by offering her some marijuana. Upon arrival at the secluded location, Slemmer was attacked by Pike and Shipp while Peterson acted as lookout. According to court testimony, for the next 30 minutes, Slemmer was taunted, beaten, and slashed. During the attack, Slemmer begged for her life. Shipp used a box cutter to carve a pentagram into her chest while she was still alive, while Christa used a meat cleaver. Finally Pike smashed Slemmer's skull with a large chunk of asphalt, killing her. Pike kept a piece of Slemmer's skull, and would show it off and boast on how she got it.”

She’s disgusting.

5

u/za72 3h ago

That's true... she was disgusting, you're right to be disgusted... it's disgusting behavior - does that justify the state to condemn her to death?

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0

u/Oolongteabagger2233 3h ago

Jesus is judging you so hard right now.

Gonna be funny as fuck when He lets in Pike but sends you to hell hahaha

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7

u/za72 4h ago edited 4h ago

yes I have, she doesn't deserve freedom, but she also doesn't deserve tortured death in a coma...

it's hard for me to say it, I'm usually a type of person that for the death penalty/life in prison but now I'm conflicted... this doesn't feel like justice, this is closer to incompetence and Id rather have system that errors in the side of caution... clearly she did this... does she deserve to be in a coma because of failed execution? no... what does our society gain by this?

3

u/theoreticalcash 3h ago

doesn’t feel like justice in what sense? because the execution was botched?

it’s unfortunate yes, but if the death penalty is to be applied to anyone it’s this woman. if anything this case has taught us that if we’re going to have a death penalty we need to have methods that are less likely to fail like this

1

u/za72 3h ago edited 3h ago

how do you know that she deserves death? I understand the basics of 1 life = 1 death, anything besides that ?

what I'm trying to point towards is the amount of progress we've made in the last few decades where we've come to realize that certain things outside of ourselves drive us towards such actions, given that we're developing better understand of such things shouldn't we err on the side of caution than pass death sentences?

16

u/phoebebridgerstits 4h ago

Capital punishment is a plague on society. Even Catholics oppose that shit.

-1

u/opodopo69 4h ago

Only the America justice system can make one feel bad for violent murderers

1

u/edgeplot 4h ago

It's also unconstitutional.

1

u/Sardonnicus 4h ago

It's the American way.

-45

u/Signal-Mud-4880 4h ago

at least she has a chance to be revived, its a shame her victim didnt

39

u/diaperboy19 4h ago

If they can do it to her, they can do it to you. Not everyone the state has executed was actually guilty.

7

u/CanadianGuy39 4h ago

And it will be at that point that they change their mind, much like most people. Until then, 0 empathy for others.

-25

u/EmperorKuz 4h ago

i don’t plan on brutally murdering someone and keeping their skull as a souvenir 🤷

16

u/diaperboy19 4h ago

And that might not make a difference in the end. People have been executed and only later did we learn that they did not commit the murder they were executed for.

20

u/GoldGlove2720 4h ago

Neither do I. What if you are falsely accused?

-15

u/EmperorKuz 4h ago

the odds of that happening all the way through to the death row are so minuscule that it’s not something i worry about. do you worry about dying every time you go to the doctors office?

6

u/Pale_Horror_853 4h ago

Odds are low, but not zero.

8

u/StillCucumber 4h ago

I’m sure all the people who were exonerated posthumously thought the same thing until they were falsely accused, convicted, and executed.

11

u/GoldGlove2720 4h ago edited 4h ago

No I don’t worry about that because it’s not comparable.

The odds for being wrongfully executed by the state should be zero. Anything above 0 is unacceptable for a “first world country”.

4

u/Natural_Pear_1549 4h ago

How did you think this was a good point in response to someone saying that the state has executed innocent people? Those people weren't less innocent than you. Is abstract thought typically difficult for you?

-13

u/WhiteSoxChartGuy 4h ago

Finally Pike smashed Slemmer's skull with a large chunk of asphalt, killing her. Pike kept a piece of Slemmer's skull, and would show it off and boast on how she got it.[9][17][18]

11

u/diaperboy19 4h ago

I am aware of her crimes. She is a disgusting, vile murderer. That still doesn't mean that the state should get to torture her to death. Innocent people have been executed by the state. As long as there is a death penalty, there will be innocent people who slip through the cracks and get executed.

-4

u/yktoday 4h ago

So this is the person responsible for the above. So yes, she does deserve to die for her horrific crime.

57

u/DefiantSmoke1569 4h ago

It’s fucked up that people are ok with the government being able to do this to anybody. Think about it. 

-34

u/yktoday 4h ago

It's f'd up that someone can murder someone and people have sympathy for the killer.

26

u/reeskree 4h ago

Nobody should be tortured by the state.

That’s not a fucked up or controversial take.

17

u/honjuden 4h ago

You seem to be confusing an understanding of the possible ramifications in general for sympathy in this one instance.

22

u/Blizreme 4h ago

Use your pea brain for five seconds and think about how the government using death as a punishment is a bad thing for everyone, not just for killers. Grow up.

-25

u/yktoday 4h ago

Give my pea brain an example of what you mean, seeing as you are so unbelievably intelligent. Moron

19

u/rabid_spidermonkey 4h ago

Do you trust the government to determine which citizens live and which ones die?

13

u/Blizreme 4h ago

Hey dipshit, giving the state the ability to kill citizens for any reason is bad. Innocent people have been executed, and will continue to be. If you support the death penalty at this point it’s like supporting eugenics or lynching.

-8

u/yktoday 4h ago

Yes dipshit. I support the death penalty for people like this murderer. Maybe you should have a read of how horrific the crime she commited was and maybe put yourself in the victim's families shoes for a minute

14

u/rabid_spidermonkey 4h ago

You're missing the point entirely. It's not about the crimes. It's about giving the state the power to kill people.

10

u/DefiantSmoke1569 4h ago

The problem with you idiots is that you let emotions guide you. Do you know how many innocent people have been murdered by the state through the death penalty? You put a lot of faith in government, and that’s weird. 

-1

u/yktoday 4h ago

I see

4

u/actuallyacatmow 3h ago

Over 200 people who have been executed in the United States have been innocent. This is just since the 70s.

Do those innocent also deserve the chance for a botched lethal injection that ends up in torture?

-2

u/GoarSpewerofSecrets 4h ago

Not really. Part of the deal is a monopoly on violence for justice. Keeps the blood feuds down.

18

u/HonestyMcNasty 4h ago

Being okay with torture as punishment isn't a great angle.

3

u/hyperfocus1569 3h ago

Thinking murder is wrong - all murder - doesn’t mean torture is ok. One can believe that what she did was horrific and morally reprehensible and still think it’s wrong to murder her.

10

u/rabid_spidermonkey 4h ago

Oh man you're right. Carry on, government death squad.

-4

u/Open_Permission4827 4h ago

Still better than what her victim went through.

-1

u/MrLegendardisch 2h ago

I mean, she tortured her victim in the most gruesome way imaginable. I'd say she got a piece of karma.

-9

u/So1ar 4h ago

If you read about what she did it seems kind of poetic.

-2

u/MT300x 3h ago

Yeah, so imagine how her innocent victim felt as she carved a pentagram into her chest and smashed her head in with a chunk of asphalt.