Oct. 7, 2026
UPDATE: “Medically Unprecedented”, Christa Pike Is Awake And Talking
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RSS Feed After nearly a week of being unconscious and on a ventilator following Tennessee’s botched execution attempt, Christa Pike is conscious and speaking according to her attorneys. They say Pike is the only known person to have survived two lethal doses of pentobarbital, but her long term prognosis remains unclear. Later today, Pike’s attorneys will be back in court, asking for evidence to be preserved in the case, as well as transparency into what went wrong. Meantime, Pike’s victim’s mom has reacted to the news that her daughter’s killer is awake, saying she “had a feeling” she would survive.
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00:00:02
Speaker 1: Hey there, folks. It is Wednesday, October 7th, which could be a huge day in the Krista Pike case. Yes, the Tennessee death row inmate who survived that botched execution. A lot is happening in that case today, but we need to start with this. She's awake. And with that, welcome to this episode of Amy and TJ. So much going on. Robe is trying to get in there early. Get going on this story. Yes, she is conscious for the first time, Robe, since that execution a week ago today.
00:00:31
Speaker 2: Yeah. Sorry, I jumped in there. But I think we were all surprised to hear not only that she's awake, but that she's talking. And this is a woman who spent nearly a week on a ventilator. We know she's not out of the woods yet, but she is believed to be The first person known to have survived not one but two doses of pentobarbital.
00:00:57
Speaker 1: She survived maybe because they didn't put it all the way in her blood system, right? Look, this stuff went into her body. Didn't go to the right place, perhaps. But, Ropes, is it possible? Can someone, if they do that correctly, can somebody survive that much of that stuff going into your body correctly? I wonder. Either way, point is, there was an execution. They went through the motions and she's alive. That is remarkable.
00:01:22
Speaker 2: Look, exactly. And the question is, to answer your question, we don't know. And that's what her attorneys want to find out. When were these drugs procured? How were they handled? What company did they come from? All of those questions are appropriate given the outcome and what she went through. And that's part of what we're hopefully going to be learning more about later on today.
00:01:48
Speaker 1: Yeah, there were some, it was them, right? Yeah, Tennessee had this problem years and years ago where they were about to administer some drugs and turns out they didn't test them correctly because of expiration dates and whatnot. So yeah, they need to look into that here. But the prevailing theory right now in consensus is not that these drugs were jacked. It was that y'all messed up. This is human error.
00:02:09
Speaker 2: Correct. That the IVs weren't inserted properly, weren't monitored correctly, weren't adjusted after the first dose didn't do what it was supposed to do. Yes. And so there are many, many, many questions being officially asked on behalf of Krista Pike. And we're going to hear more about that later today because there is an 11 a.m. hearing in Nashville from Krista Pike's attorneys and And this is basically a status conference hearing is how it's being described on that emergency motion they filed almost immediately last week after that botched execution. They're basically trying to ensure that the state preserves all the records related to the execution. They want an expert to examine, yes, any residual chemicals from what they administered into Krista Pike's body. They want to look at the syringes, the IV lines. everything involved in this execution.
00:03:06
Speaker 1: I guess you have to ask a court and do this formally, but surely they know to be holding onto this stuff. They're not in the back throwing stuff into a furnace at this point.
00:03:15
Speaker 2: And I believe they let the state of Tennessee know as soon as like one o'clock in the morning, we need you to preserve all of this. And in the motion, the attorneys wrote out that Pike could be here crying, whimpering, breathing loudly, While she was being administered these doses, she said out loud that it feels like her arm is about to burst open. They say at least seven needles were used to gain IV access, with one, quote, bent in a 90-degree angle when it was removed. So, yes, they describe a pretty horrific scene, and they want the state to be able to answer that. all of their questions.
00:03:54
Speaker 1: Yeah, we all got questions right now. Sometimes it seems like the attorneys really didn't have a great answer either. Like, just how is she doing? You hear awake and was able to communicate, but Rose, what? We don't know what the prognosis is, what the, they say long recovery ahead, but they talk, I guess, to some degree, Rose, and the updates we're getting are that she might be out of the woods or the worst of it, at least. That's progress. She's conscious now. She's speaking. That's recovery direction, is it not?
00:04:23
Speaker 2: Absolutely. I mean, she was on a ventilator for, I believe, what, five, six days? We don't know the exact details, but a lot of people, a high percentage of people, when they go on a ventilator, never actually recover. And that's always a scary thing to have to go into that place. I just remember that from COVID. It was once somebody went on a ventilator. It was a scary, scary thought about what happens next. So it is fairly remarkable. That she has pulled through, is alive, is conscious, is speaking.
00:05:03
Speaker 1: One of the things we, over the years, historically, we can't believe somebody survived, blank, right? A plane crash, sometimes, eh? Like there's one survivor of this thing, or I'm trying to think of any equivalent. Who on this earth can say I survived an execution, right? Nobody is the answer. This is just from a human standpoint, historical standpoint. Like what is more miraculous than this? We've been preparing for years to kill you and we failed.
00:05:36
Speaker 2: And yes, all eyes were on the state of Tennessee. And we failed. The first execution of a woman in more than 200 years. This had been written about, talked about, debated for certainly for years, but especially in the weeks and days leading up to the execution. Let's read for you the attorney full statement about Krista Pike and what we know about her condition. They wrote, against all odds, Krista Pike is conscious, speaking, and continues to receive critical medical care despite the severe damage she endured to her arms. She is still handcuffed and shackled to the bed. Her recovery is medically unprecedented. Her prognosis remains unclear, but at a minimum, we expect a long recovery. We are incredibly grateful to the first responders and the medical team at the hospital who treated Krista like a human. and have provided exceptional care to her. We also want to thank thousands from all over the world who sent messages offering prayers and support for Krista. Krista's life has been extraordinarily difficult. She survived multiple childhood rapes, which political leaders in this state acknowledge leave lifelong scars. She survived nearly 30 years of solitary confinement and more recently escalating restrictive confinement leading up to her execution date. She survived two complete rounds of lethal injection per Tennessee's protocol, despite her attorney's warning to the state of specific challenges with her veins. She is the only person known to have survived a complete execution attempt in the United States. Krista is a survivor and will take recovery one day at a time. We continue to ask the governor of Tennessee to commute Krista Pike's sentence to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.
00:07:27
Speaker 1: Somebody to chop that girl up like that is now the sympathetic victim in this matter. We turned her into that. It was so inhumane what has happened to this woman, starting last Wednesday. Before that, all bets were off. You could have a debate about it. But what has happened to her since last Wednesday is wrong. It just is. And someone who is as heinous as her crime was, as disgusting as that crime was, as awful, Robes. And even to hear the victim's mother still saying that Krista Pike was laughing and talking and not apologizing and no remorse on the day of her execution. All that, that woman, now, because of what we've done, is the person we have to seek sympathy and mercy for.
00:08:15
Speaker 2: We've become Krista Pike. In a way.
00:08:17
Speaker 1: This is so great.
00:08:18
Speaker 2: Because what Krista Pike did to Colleen Slemmer, her victim, 31 years ago, was nothing short of torture and cruel and unusual and extended. I mean, she took her time torturing this young girl and eventually murdering her. But we're talking about carving her with a box cutter, slitting her throat, bashing her head in, laughing, kicking her face. all while Colleen Slemmer pleaded for mercy. And isn't it so ironic, some people might call it karmic, that she has now suffered a long-extended torturous existence, and certainly even in an attempt to kill her, it was prolonged, cruel, and unusual, I think, by anyone's standards. But we have become, the state of Tennessee has become their own version of Krista Pike.
00:09:13
Speaker 1: Yeah. By torturing and not taking human decency into account. What has happened to this woman is, if somebody went eye for an eye, I'm not going to have that argument and debate and all that. That's fine. But we were supposed to be better. There's a reason we do it differently. There's a reason we don't say, well, you did this to her, so we are now going to slit your throat, we're going to cut something into your... We don't do that. There's a reason for it. We're supposed to be doing this as humanely as possible, and what did we do? We Krista Piked Krista Pike.
00:09:47
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's exactly what we did. And interestingly enough, the New York Times actually got their hands on an audio recording where Krista Pike talked about her worries, her concerns. about being executed. And she is talking about Tony Carruthers, the other botched execution in Tennessee that his execution ultimately had to be called off because they couldn't establish a second IV line. And if you listen to her own words, knowing what's happened to her now is so, so eerie. She said, the concerns I have on our lethal injection method are simply that I do not have good veins. And I'm worried about our physician not being qualified to start a central line on me If that happens because he wasn't able to on Tony Carruthers, Tony Carruthers lived out my worst nightmare detail for detail. And she said she heard one of the drugs given burns very bad. So thinking about her talking about her concerns and then knowing now what happened to her, it's It's astounding.
00:10:57
Speaker 1: But Robes, doesn't it now? And by the way, folks, as we're recording this, there is another execution scheduled tonight in Texas using the same method that was used against Krista Pike. Robes, it's cruel and unusual for him to even be aware of what's happened to Krista Pike. You're telling me that the number one concern of somebody on death row going into the death chamber is not death.
00:11:17
Speaker 2: It's not dying.
00:11:19
Speaker 1: It's what the hell are you going to do to me before death? Robes, that in itself is cruel and unusual to me.
00:11:25
Speaker 2: It is wild to think that that is now an added layer. It's not fearing death. It's fearing how long it's going to take if I'm actually going to what the process is going to be, how painful it's going to feel. And, yeah, death would actually be a relief.
00:11:42
Speaker 1: Robes, they're all going to start asking, what is your final meal? Just two gallons of water. I just want to make sure I'm hydrated and the veins are popping and y'all are good. Robes, we cannot have people going in there to die not worried first about death. What are we doing? Oh.
00:11:59
Speaker 2: That is wild.
00:12:00
Speaker 1: Yes, folks, there is an execution tonight in Texas using... a one-drug dose of pentobarbital.
00:12:07
Speaker 2: We shall see what happens in that situation. But when we come back, we're going to hear from Colleen Slemmer's mom. Yes, she has reacted to the news that Krista Pike is alive. Welcome back, everyone, to Amy and TJ. Yes, getting you up to date on everything Krista Pike's condition, she is awake. She is talking. She's not out of the woods yet, according to her attorney. She still has a long road to recovery. We don't know what that recovery will look like, but it is remarkable to note that, yes, it's... it's believed that Krista Pike is the first person to have ever survived two lethal or should be lethal doses of penobarbital. And that news, of course, of her waking up, her speaking, her being alert, reached Colleen Slemmer's mom. Of course, that is Krista Pike's victim. And she spoke with the NBC affiliate where she lives down there in Florida, WBIR. And isn't this interesting? She told the reporter that she had a feeling. She just had a feeling that Krista would survive.
00:13:21
Speaker 1: That's crazy.
00:13:22
Speaker 2: Yes, and she doesn't believe that Tennessee will actually try to execute her again.
00:13:27
Speaker 1: Where does that leave the mom? Where does that leave her?
00:13:29
Speaker 2: She said, so then the reporter asked, well, what do you want to happen? This is telling. Here is Colleen Slemmer's mom's quote. It doesn't matter what I think. They're going to do what they're going to do. She's given up.
00:13:43
Speaker 1: She still hasn't been called by the state?
00:13:45
Speaker 2: That wasn't asked, but it didn't sound like she had. She just said she doesn't know and she doesn't think they care what she thinks.
00:13:52
Speaker 1: They don't. It's clear. Well, how many days? Well, we might not know this morning, but as of, what, two days ago for sure, she hadn't been called?
00:14:01
Speaker 2: No, and I would think she would have said, hey, look, they're keeping me up to date. There would have been a little bit more. It sounds as though she has just been left in the dark and left to wonder and now has just reached a point where she has to let go. I mean, she just has to say, nothing I say, nothing I feel matters anymore. This has taken on a whole other life of its own, and now it's all about Krista Pyke.
00:14:25
Speaker 1: That poor lady.
00:14:27
Speaker 2: I feel for her.
00:14:27
Speaker 1: That was 31 years ago. Her kid didn't just die from some drunk driving accident. There was somebody who intentionally lured and heinously murdered this girl. 31 years. Her face was against the window waiting on Krista Pike to die. And now she's back in Florida essentially saying, my daughter will never get justice. So look, it's one thing to be bad at your job and not be able to get the needle in and not follow procedures. It's another to be a bad human. Tennessee, you need to put your arms around this woman and say, we're sorry. Yeah. You have to be decent to this woman now. She is still, Robes, I would argue, the biggest victim today. I know Krista Pike and what she went through, but Robes. Why?
00:15:12
Speaker 2: It's so weird. Yes, that's her name.
00:15:14
Speaker 1: What's the quote? Again, the day of the execution. They were talking to people out there in Tennessee who were gathered for it. And the one that stood out, Somebody just said, I'm tired of hearing about Krista Pike. So now it's all about Krista Pike.
00:15:31
Speaker 2: It is.
00:15:32
Speaker 1: It's a miracle. She's the first to ever do this. And she has suffered. And yeah, she messed that girl up. Robes.
00:15:39
Speaker 2: It was evil.
00:15:40
Speaker 1: That was an evil killer.
00:15:41
Speaker 2: It was intentional. It was evil. It was planned. It was premeditated.
00:15:46
Speaker 1: Absolutely.
00:15:47
Speaker 2: That cannot be lost in this story. And look, I know and understandably May Martinez does not think that Krista Pike is going to be executed. And certainly her attorneys are pushing for that with the governor.
00:15:59
Speaker 1: I don't believe it either. Do you?
00:16:01
Speaker 2: I don't think she will either. I just think there's too much that's happened at this point for them to. I do believe her sentence is going to be commuted to life without the possibility of parole. But it is interesting, and we mentioned this, Tennessee's Republicans, state Republicans, they are saying a very different thing. They want to press forward with executions. Senator Marsha Blackburn, remember her name because she is the frontrunner right now in the governor's race there in Tennessee.
00:16:29
Speaker 1: She's got to strike a balance on this one, baby.
00:16:31
Speaker 2: But she has suggested the electric chair. Her quote, if it's lethal injection, if it's the electric chair, what we do know is we have to find a way to do this and do it successfully. So she's not backing down on continuing executions in that state. She just wants to do it better.
00:16:48
Speaker 1: Robes, there was a reason that they used to hang people and shoot people. They were just effective methods. But they're horrific, aren't they?
00:16:57
Speaker 2: They're horrific to look at. They're horrific to watch. They're horrific to see. And to that point, the Republican House speaker in Tennessee said, we want, talking about the death penalty, we want to broaden it, include more methods. What those are as of today, I'm not sure. But I don't think there's any method that's off the table at this point. Yeah. That's what they said.
00:17:19
Speaker 1: What is he talking about?
00:17:20
Speaker 2: That's their reaction to this.
00:17:22
Speaker 1: Bring back the guillotine?
00:17:23
Speaker 2: I mean, honestly, I actually had that thought cross my mind.
00:17:26
Speaker 1: It works.
00:17:27
Speaker 2: It is effective. It is quick. And as long as that blade is sharpened, I can't imagine what the hiccup would be.
00:17:35
Speaker 1: That'll be the next problem.
00:17:36
Speaker 2: The dull blade?
00:17:37
Speaker 1: There you go. Who was the sharpener? He didn't sharpen it enough. And then we have another... Bro, we saw the stats. We've been doing it. Everything you name, the only one that they have stats on that has never been botched is firing squad. Zero percent botched. But only, I think, what, three states allow it? South Carolina's one, Utah, I believe. Because it's hard to look at.
00:17:58
Speaker 2: Horrific. Hard to look at.
00:17:59
Speaker 1: You're shooting somebody in the heart. That's awful. But a doctor putting a needle in the arm, we can do that. Yeah.
00:18:04
Speaker 2: That's okay. I'm just going to watch somebody fall asleep.
00:18:07
Speaker 1: The result's the same.
00:18:09
Speaker 2: The result is the same.
00:18:10
Speaker 1: But the courts say that shooting, hanging, electrocution, nitrogen gas, and lethal injection are legal methods. Pick one.
00:18:21
Speaker 2: Isn't it interesting that the lethal injection by far has had the most complications? By far. And yet it's the one that makes us feel better because a needle doesn't feel as violent as a bullet. No, no.
00:18:32
Speaker 1: It's humanely.
00:18:33
Speaker 2: That's for us. That's for us. That's not for us. the death row inmate. That is for us to feel better about what we're doing.
00:18:39
Speaker 1: Shoot them. Take them out back and shoot them is what they used to do, Robes. I mean, this is what we're talking about. And the one, do you remember the one in South Carolina? Was it last year? Maybe the year before? Execution starts at the top of the hour. We're getting results in a few minutes.
00:18:54
Speaker 2: Yes.
00:18:55
Speaker 1: Robes, there are some states, we get the results 10 minutes afterwards that the person is pronounced dead. Go to Florida. Study them. Figure out what they're doing. But Rob, this is... I think I would vote for a moratorium on lethal injection in this country right now.
00:19:11
Speaker 2: Agreed.
00:19:12
Speaker 1: Stop it until we figure this out.
00:19:14
Speaker 2: All right. Well, we will keep our eye on that press conference that is happening later this morning in Nashville. And we will keep our eye on that Texas execution chamber that's happening later this evening. But for now, we always appreciate you listening to us. I'm Amy Robach alongside TJ Holmes.
00:19:29
Speaker 1: We'll talk soon.
Speaker 1: Hey there, folks. It is Wednesday, October 7th, which could be a huge day in the Krista Pike case. Yes, the Tennessee death row inmate who survived that botched execution. A lot is happening in that case today, but we need to start with this. She's awake. And with that, welcome to this episode of Amy and TJ. So much going on. Robe is trying to get in there early. Get going on this story. Yes, she is conscious for the first time, Robe, since that execution a week ago today.
00:00:31
Speaker 2: Yeah. Sorry, I jumped in there. But I think we were all surprised to hear not only that she's awake, but that she's talking. And this is a woman who spent nearly a week on a ventilator. We know she's not out of the woods yet, but she is believed to be The first person known to have survived not one but two doses of pentobarbital.
00:00:57
Speaker 1: She survived maybe because they didn't put it all the way in her blood system, right? Look, this stuff went into her body. Didn't go to the right place, perhaps. But, Ropes, is it possible? Can someone, if they do that correctly, can somebody survive that much of that stuff going into your body correctly? I wonder. Either way, point is, there was an execution. They went through the motions and she's alive. That is remarkable.
00:01:22
Speaker 2: Look, exactly. And the question is, to answer your question, we don't know. And that's what her attorneys want to find out. When were these drugs procured? How were they handled? What company did they come from? All of those questions are appropriate given the outcome and what she went through. And that's part of what we're hopefully going to be learning more about later on today.
00:01:48
Speaker 1: Yeah, there were some, it was them, right? Yeah, Tennessee had this problem years and years ago where they were about to administer some drugs and turns out they didn't test them correctly because of expiration dates and whatnot. So yeah, they need to look into that here. But the prevailing theory right now in consensus is not that these drugs were jacked. It was that y'all messed up. This is human error.
00:02:09
Speaker 2: Correct. That the IVs weren't inserted properly, weren't monitored correctly, weren't adjusted after the first dose didn't do what it was supposed to do. Yes. And so there are many, many, many questions being officially asked on behalf of Krista Pike. And we're going to hear more about that later today because there is an 11 a.m. hearing in Nashville from Krista Pike's attorneys and And this is basically a status conference hearing is how it's being described on that emergency motion they filed almost immediately last week after that botched execution. They're basically trying to ensure that the state preserves all the records related to the execution. They want an expert to examine, yes, any residual chemicals from what they administered into Krista Pike's body. They want to look at the syringes, the IV lines. everything involved in this execution.
00:03:06
Speaker 1: I guess you have to ask a court and do this formally, but surely they know to be holding onto this stuff. They're not in the back throwing stuff into a furnace at this point.
00:03:15
Speaker 2: And I believe they let the state of Tennessee know as soon as like one o'clock in the morning, we need you to preserve all of this. And in the motion, the attorneys wrote out that Pike could be here crying, whimpering, breathing loudly, While she was being administered these doses, she said out loud that it feels like her arm is about to burst open. They say at least seven needles were used to gain IV access, with one, quote, bent in a 90-degree angle when it was removed. So, yes, they describe a pretty horrific scene, and they want the state to be able to answer that. all of their questions.
00:03:54
Speaker 1: Yeah, we all got questions right now. Sometimes it seems like the attorneys really didn't have a great answer either. Like, just how is she doing? You hear awake and was able to communicate, but Rose, what? We don't know what the prognosis is, what the, they say long recovery ahead, but they talk, I guess, to some degree, Rose, and the updates we're getting are that she might be out of the woods or the worst of it, at least. That's progress. She's conscious now. She's speaking. That's recovery direction, is it not?
00:04:23
Speaker 2: Absolutely. I mean, she was on a ventilator for, I believe, what, five, six days? We don't know the exact details, but a lot of people, a high percentage of people, when they go on a ventilator, never actually recover. And that's always a scary thing to have to go into that place. I just remember that from COVID. It was once somebody went on a ventilator. It was a scary, scary thought about what happens next. So it is fairly remarkable. That she has pulled through, is alive, is conscious, is speaking.
00:05:03
Speaker 1: One of the things we, over the years, historically, we can't believe somebody survived, blank, right? A plane crash, sometimes, eh? Like there's one survivor of this thing, or I'm trying to think of any equivalent. Who on this earth can say I survived an execution, right? Nobody is the answer. This is just from a human standpoint, historical standpoint. Like what is more miraculous than this? We've been preparing for years to kill you and we failed.
00:05:36
Speaker 2: And yes, all eyes were on the state of Tennessee. And we failed. The first execution of a woman in more than 200 years. This had been written about, talked about, debated for certainly for years, but especially in the weeks and days leading up to the execution. Let's read for you the attorney full statement about Krista Pike and what we know about her condition. They wrote, against all odds, Krista Pike is conscious, speaking, and continues to receive critical medical care despite the severe damage she endured to her arms. She is still handcuffed and shackled to the bed. Her recovery is medically unprecedented. Her prognosis remains unclear, but at a minimum, we expect a long recovery. We are incredibly grateful to the first responders and the medical team at the hospital who treated Krista like a human. and have provided exceptional care to her. We also want to thank thousands from all over the world who sent messages offering prayers and support for Krista. Krista's life has been extraordinarily difficult. She survived multiple childhood rapes, which political leaders in this state acknowledge leave lifelong scars. She survived nearly 30 years of solitary confinement and more recently escalating restrictive confinement leading up to her execution date. She survived two complete rounds of lethal injection per Tennessee's protocol, despite her attorney's warning to the state of specific challenges with her veins. She is the only person known to have survived a complete execution attempt in the United States. Krista is a survivor and will take recovery one day at a time. We continue to ask the governor of Tennessee to commute Krista Pike's sentence to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.
00:07:27
Speaker 1: Somebody to chop that girl up like that is now the sympathetic victim in this matter. We turned her into that. It was so inhumane what has happened to this woman, starting last Wednesday. Before that, all bets were off. You could have a debate about it. But what has happened to her since last Wednesday is wrong. It just is. And someone who is as heinous as her crime was, as disgusting as that crime was, as awful, Robes. And even to hear the victim's mother still saying that Krista Pike was laughing and talking and not apologizing and no remorse on the day of her execution. All that, that woman, now, because of what we've done, is the person we have to seek sympathy and mercy for.
00:08:15
Speaker 2: We've become Krista Pike. In a way.
00:08:17
Speaker 1: This is so great.
00:08:18
Speaker 2: Because what Krista Pike did to Colleen Slemmer, her victim, 31 years ago, was nothing short of torture and cruel and unusual and extended. I mean, she took her time torturing this young girl and eventually murdering her. But we're talking about carving her with a box cutter, slitting her throat, bashing her head in, laughing, kicking her face. all while Colleen Slemmer pleaded for mercy. And isn't it so ironic, some people might call it karmic, that she has now suffered a long-extended torturous existence, and certainly even in an attempt to kill her, it was prolonged, cruel, and unusual, I think, by anyone's standards. But we have become, the state of Tennessee has become their own version of Krista Pike.
00:09:13
Speaker 1: Yeah. By torturing and not taking human decency into account. What has happened to this woman is, if somebody went eye for an eye, I'm not going to have that argument and debate and all that. That's fine. But we were supposed to be better. There's a reason we do it differently. There's a reason we don't say, well, you did this to her, so we are now going to slit your throat, we're going to cut something into your... We don't do that. There's a reason for it. We're supposed to be doing this as humanely as possible, and what did we do? We Krista Piked Krista Pike.
00:09:47
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's exactly what we did. And interestingly enough, the New York Times actually got their hands on an audio recording where Krista Pike talked about her worries, her concerns. about being executed. And she is talking about Tony Carruthers, the other botched execution in Tennessee that his execution ultimately had to be called off because they couldn't establish a second IV line. And if you listen to her own words, knowing what's happened to her now is so, so eerie. She said, the concerns I have on our lethal injection method are simply that I do not have good veins. And I'm worried about our physician not being qualified to start a central line on me If that happens because he wasn't able to on Tony Carruthers, Tony Carruthers lived out my worst nightmare detail for detail. And she said she heard one of the drugs given burns very bad. So thinking about her talking about her concerns and then knowing now what happened to her, it's It's astounding.
00:10:57
Speaker 1: But Robes, doesn't it now? And by the way, folks, as we're recording this, there is another execution scheduled tonight in Texas using the same method that was used against Krista Pike. Robes, it's cruel and unusual for him to even be aware of what's happened to Krista Pike. You're telling me that the number one concern of somebody on death row going into the death chamber is not death.
00:11:17
Speaker 2: It's not dying.
00:11:19
Speaker 1: It's what the hell are you going to do to me before death? Robes, that in itself is cruel and unusual to me.
00:11:25
Speaker 2: It is wild to think that that is now an added layer. It's not fearing death. It's fearing how long it's going to take if I'm actually going to what the process is going to be, how painful it's going to feel. And, yeah, death would actually be a relief.
00:11:42
Speaker 1: Robes, they're all going to start asking, what is your final meal? Just two gallons of water. I just want to make sure I'm hydrated and the veins are popping and y'all are good. Robes, we cannot have people going in there to die not worried first about death. What are we doing? Oh.
00:11:59
Speaker 2: That is wild.
00:12:00
Speaker 1: Yes, folks, there is an execution tonight in Texas using... a one-drug dose of pentobarbital.
00:12:07
Speaker 2: We shall see what happens in that situation. But when we come back, we're going to hear from Colleen Slemmer's mom. Yes, she has reacted to the news that Krista Pike is alive. Welcome back, everyone, to Amy and TJ. Yes, getting you up to date on everything Krista Pike's condition, she is awake. She is talking. She's not out of the woods yet, according to her attorney. She still has a long road to recovery. We don't know what that recovery will look like, but it is remarkable to note that, yes, it's... it's believed that Krista Pike is the first person to have ever survived two lethal or should be lethal doses of penobarbital. And that news, of course, of her waking up, her speaking, her being alert, reached Colleen Slemmer's mom. Of course, that is Krista Pike's victim. And she spoke with the NBC affiliate where she lives down there in Florida, WBIR. And isn't this interesting? She told the reporter that she had a feeling. She just had a feeling that Krista would survive.
00:13:21
Speaker 1: That's crazy.
00:13:22
Speaker 2: Yes, and she doesn't believe that Tennessee will actually try to execute her again.
00:13:27
Speaker 1: Where does that leave the mom? Where does that leave her?
00:13:29
Speaker 2: She said, so then the reporter asked, well, what do you want to happen? This is telling. Here is Colleen Slemmer's mom's quote. It doesn't matter what I think. They're going to do what they're going to do. She's given up.
00:13:43
Speaker 1: She still hasn't been called by the state?
00:13:45
Speaker 2: That wasn't asked, but it didn't sound like she had. She just said she doesn't know and she doesn't think they care what she thinks.
00:13:52
Speaker 1: They don't. It's clear. Well, how many days? Well, we might not know this morning, but as of, what, two days ago for sure, she hadn't been called?
00:14:01
Speaker 2: No, and I would think she would have said, hey, look, they're keeping me up to date. There would have been a little bit more. It sounds as though she has just been left in the dark and left to wonder and now has just reached a point where she has to let go. I mean, she just has to say, nothing I say, nothing I feel matters anymore. This has taken on a whole other life of its own, and now it's all about Krista Pyke.
00:14:25
Speaker 1: That poor lady.
00:14:27
Speaker 2: I feel for her.
00:14:27
Speaker 1: That was 31 years ago. Her kid didn't just die from some drunk driving accident. There was somebody who intentionally lured and heinously murdered this girl. 31 years. Her face was against the window waiting on Krista Pike to die. And now she's back in Florida essentially saying, my daughter will never get justice. So look, it's one thing to be bad at your job and not be able to get the needle in and not follow procedures. It's another to be a bad human. Tennessee, you need to put your arms around this woman and say, we're sorry. Yeah. You have to be decent to this woman now. She is still, Robes, I would argue, the biggest victim today. I know Krista Pike and what she went through, but Robes. Why?
00:15:12
Speaker 2: It's so weird. Yes, that's her name.
00:15:14
Speaker 1: What's the quote? Again, the day of the execution. They were talking to people out there in Tennessee who were gathered for it. And the one that stood out, Somebody just said, I'm tired of hearing about Krista Pike. So now it's all about Krista Pike.
00:15:31
Speaker 2: It is.
00:15:32
Speaker 1: It's a miracle. She's the first to ever do this. And she has suffered. And yeah, she messed that girl up. Robes.
00:15:39
Speaker 2: It was evil.
00:15:40
Speaker 1: That was an evil killer.
00:15:41
Speaker 2: It was intentional. It was evil. It was planned. It was premeditated.
00:15:46
Speaker 1: Absolutely.
00:15:47
Speaker 2: That cannot be lost in this story. And look, I know and understandably May Martinez does not think that Krista Pike is going to be executed. And certainly her attorneys are pushing for that with the governor.
00:15:59
Speaker 1: I don't believe it either. Do you?
00:16:01
Speaker 2: I don't think she will either. I just think there's too much that's happened at this point for them to. I do believe her sentence is going to be commuted to life without the possibility of parole. But it is interesting, and we mentioned this, Tennessee's Republicans, state Republicans, they are saying a very different thing. They want to press forward with executions. Senator Marsha Blackburn, remember her name because she is the frontrunner right now in the governor's race there in Tennessee.
00:16:29
Speaker 1: She's got to strike a balance on this one, baby.
00:16:31
Speaker 2: But she has suggested the electric chair. Her quote, if it's lethal injection, if it's the electric chair, what we do know is we have to find a way to do this and do it successfully. So she's not backing down on continuing executions in that state. She just wants to do it better.
00:16:48
Speaker 1: Robes, there was a reason that they used to hang people and shoot people. They were just effective methods. But they're horrific, aren't they?
00:16:57
Speaker 2: They're horrific to look at. They're horrific to watch. They're horrific to see. And to that point, the Republican House speaker in Tennessee said, we want, talking about the death penalty, we want to broaden it, include more methods. What those are as of today, I'm not sure. But I don't think there's any method that's off the table at this point. Yeah. That's what they said.
00:17:19
Speaker 1: What is he talking about?
00:17:20
Speaker 2: That's their reaction to this.
00:17:22
Speaker 1: Bring back the guillotine?
00:17:23
Speaker 2: I mean, honestly, I actually had that thought cross my mind.
00:17:26
Speaker 1: It works.
00:17:27
Speaker 2: It is effective. It is quick. And as long as that blade is sharpened, I can't imagine what the hiccup would be.
00:17:35
Speaker 1: That'll be the next problem.
00:17:36
Speaker 2: The dull blade?
00:17:37
Speaker 1: There you go. Who was the sharpener? He didn't sharpen it enough. And then we have another... Bro, we saw the stats. We've been doing it. Everything you name, the only one that they have stats on that has never been botched is firing squad. Zero percent botched. But only, I think, what, three states allow it? South Carolina's one, Utah, I believe. Because it's hard to look at.
00:17:58
Speaker 2: Horrific. Hard to look at.
00:17:59
Speaker 1: You're shooting somebody in the heart. That's awful. But a doctor putting a needle in the arm, we can do that. Yeah.
00:18:04
Speaker 2: That's okay. I'm just going to watch somebody fall asleep.
00:18:07
Speaker 1: The result's the same.
00:18:09
Speaker 2: The result is the same.
00:18:10
Speaker 1: But the courts say that shooting, hanging, electrocution, nitrogen gas, and lethal injection are legal methods. Pick one.
00:18:21
Speaker 2: Isn't it interesting that the lethal injection by far has had the most complications? By far. And yet it's the one that makes us feel better because a needle doesn't feel as violent as a bullet. No, no.
00:18:32
Speaker 1: It's humanely.
00:18:33
Speaker 2: That's for us. That's for us. That's not for us. the death row inmate. That is for us to feel better about what we're doing.
00:18:39
Speaker 1: Shoot them. Take them out back and shoot them is what they used to do, Robes. I mean, this is what we're talking about. And the one, do you remember the one in South Carolina? Was it last year? Maybe the year before? Execution starts at the top of the hour. We're getting results in a few minutes.
00:18:54
Speaker 2: Yes.
00:18:55
Speaker 1: Robes, there are some states, we get the results 10 minutes afterwards that the person is pronounced dead. Go to Florida. Study them. Figure out what they're doing. But Rob, this is... I think I would vote for a moratorium on lethal injection in this country right now.
00:19:11
Speaker 2: Agreed.
00:19:12
Speaker 1: Stop it until we figure this out.
00:19:14
Speaker 2: All right. Well, we will keep our eye on that press conference that is happening later this morning in Nashville. And we will keep our eye on that Texas execution chamber that's happening later this evening. But for now, we always appreciate you listening to us. I'm Amy Robach alongside TJ Holmes.
00:19:29
Speaker 1: We'll talk soon.