Christa Pike Execution

Debate rages over Jane Doe and the Cornell frat bros ... the question: Will they be charged? Plus, another tragedy for Gypsy Rose Blanchard, Tony Romo sacked at CBS, and Diddy's Bad Boy life in prison. So, we gotta ask ...

Christa Pike's blood condition may have saved her life temporarily, a doctor says ... though he's making it clear she doesn't have a super resistance to pentobarbital -- the drug that was supposed to kill her.

Dr. Joel Zivot -- a respected anesthesiologist who previously examined Christa -- sat down with Jakson on TMZ's YouTube series, "In The Know," to discuss what happened during Wednesday's botched execution in Tennessee ... telling us he thinks Christa's thrombocytosis may have played a role.

Basically, Dr. Zivot says Christa has a high platelet count ... and platelets rush to the site of an injury to clot the blood -- keeping humans from bleeding out if they get a paper cut.

An IV punctures the vein ... so platelets rush to the area and, in a person like Christa with thrombocytosis, excessive clots can form inside the vein, blocking it off entirely.

Christa Pike experienced extreme pain during her botched execution in Tennessee because the drug administered to her by the state failed to knock her out and may have caused her to jerk around and foam at the mouth, according to a death penalty expert.

Deborah Denno, a 30-year professor at Fordham Law School whose articles on capital punishment have been cited by the U.S. Supreme Court, tells TMZ ... the whole objective in putting someone to death is to make sure the prisoner does not feel any pain during the execution -- and Tennessee failed big time on that front concerning Pike. 

In her case, Pike was administered two doses of Pentobarbital -- a barbiturate that acts as a central nervous depressant -- to carry out the state's lethal injection mandate, Denno tells us.

Christa Pike was unconscious more than a day after officials screwed up her execution ... and she's not even breathing on her own, her lawyers say.

The convicted killer's legal team filed documents Friday asking a judge to preserve all evidence related to the botched execution ... and noted that, as of the night of October 1, Pike was "intubated, on a ventilator, and remains unconscious."

Her attorneys say her arms were swollen, burned, and blistered ... and they say hospital staff are working furiously to save her life and clear the pentobarbital from her system.

The Cornell gang rape case just took another bizarre turn ... with accused fraternity brothers claiming the woman at the center of the case told them the group sex was consensual and even called it "normal in the medieval times."

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Christa Pike raised serious concerns about the doctor who was assigned to give her a lethal injection, asking tough questions weeks before he botched her execution ... TMZ has learned.

TMZ obtained court docs filed by Christa in August … a short time before her scheduled execution on September 30 ... and she claims prosecutors went to "great lengths to protect and conceal the identity of the physician that the State of Tennessee uses in its executions.”

She said the government objected to any questions about the qualifications of the doctor scheduled. Christa's legal team claimed the physician made a statement to a news outlet about his intention to participate in her execution.

Christa Pike claimed she was the victim of horrific childhood abuse at the hands of relatives as she fought to get taken off death row ... and her allegations are horrifying.

TMZ obtained court docs from previous appeals in her murder case in which the convicted murderer laid out the abuse she claims to have suffered in her childhood ... and it's a lot to take in.

Christa, who was fighting to be taken off death row at the time based on ineffective assistance of counsel, claimed the court had not considered the abuse and neglect she suffered ... including sexual abuse from multiple abusers and her placement in juvenile facilities where she said the "semblance of continuity and stability actually caused her to sabotage her own chances of going home."

Christa Pike made some horrific noises for nearly an hour during her botched execution ... and one local TV news anchor who was there is describing it for us ... and it sounds unpleasant.

Tori Gessner -- an anchor for WKRN news in Tennessee -- joined us on "TMZ Live" Thursday to discuss what she saw and heard during Wednesday night's execution attempt ... which she says got off to a weird start when they didn't open the curtain for nearly an hour.

Tori says it's normal for the curtain to be closed at first ... and that during this time, it's generally assumed IVs are being attached to the inmate.

However, Tori says this usually takes 10 to 15 minutes ... but this time it took about an hour. During this time, she says she could hear some moaning, whimpering, and crying.

Christa Pike's botched execution attempt took a serious toll on her ... with her lawyer saying she's in bad shape in the hospital -- but making it clear she's not in a coma.

An attorney for the convicted killer tells TMZ ... "Christa is critically ill but not in a coma as I understand it." He tells us she's still unconscious and unable to communicate.

The attorney also adds Christa's execution warrant expired at midnight ... so the Tennessee Supreme Court will have to set a new date before they can try to execute her again.

Christa Pike's attorneys are calling on Tennessee to commute her death sentence after her failed execution ... saying Pike was actually helping the execution team try to place her IV lines.

Randy Spivey and Stephen Ferrell both urged the state to take another execution attempt off the table Thursday ... arguing Pike had already endured a cruel and traumatic ordeal.

Spivey said Pike remained "kind, cooperative and at peace" as workers struggled to establish access ... even telling them to try higher up toward her shoulder and thanking them when they thought they'd gotten a line.

Christa Pike's ex-boyfriend -- who helped her torture and kill a 19-year-old woman -- is still locked up ... but he's taking steps to change his scenery.

Tadaryl Shipp is currently housed in Tennessee's Northwest Correctional Complex ... according to Department of Corrections records obtained by TMZ.

Shipp -- who had been sentenced to life -- was previously denied parole in Oct. 2025.

However ... Department of Corrections records show that his case will be reviewed again in Oct. 2031.

Christa Pike's botched execution was a total disaster ... according to the mother of the girl Christa murdered in 1995.

May Martinez -- Colleen Slemmer's mom -- told NBC News in a phone interview Thursday ... "It was a mess."

As you know, Christa survived 2 lethal injections Wednesday night in Tennessee during her attempted execution for Colleen's murder.

Nashville reporter Tori Gessner described the execution during a news conference, saying she could hear Pike say ... "My arm feels like it's about to burst open."

The doctor who oversaw Christa Pike's failed execution in Tennessee also presided over another botched attempt back in May ... making him 0-for-2.

Dr. Mark Fowler -- who oversaw the administration of 2 lethal injections to Pike -- supervised the called-off execution of Tony Carruthers on May 21.

The Carruthers execution was stopped in its tracks after medical staff spent more than an hour trying -- and failing -- to insert a needle to establish a backup IV line and central line too ... NBC News reported.

Christa Pike survived Tennessee's attempt to execute her Wednesday night ... and years before the botched lethal injections, she was fighting the state over another part of death row -- decades spent virtually alone in solitary confinement.

In a 2022 federal lawsuit, obtained by TMZ, Pike asked to be released from mandatory segregation ... with her attorneys saying she had spent more than 25 years with virtually no meaningful human contact.

Her lawyer wrote Pike's life had been defined by "four concrete walls and bare floor" ... adding, "She is fundamentally alone."

Christa Pike repeatedly pointed out a shooting pain in her arm during her horrifically failed execution attempt ... according to one eyewitness.

Tori Gessner, a reporter for Nashville's WKRN, gave a detailed account of what happened after Pike received the lethal injection, or at least, it was supposed to be lethal.

During a news conference, Gessner revealed Pike's words ... "At one point, she said, 'My arm feels like it's about to burst open.' The curtains close at first, but she was clearly still alive -- she was clearly still breathing and snoring."

Christa Pike is still alive after 2 attempted lethal injections in Tennessee.

Around 8:26 p.m. local time, witnesses said “executioners had injected both syringes of lethal injection chemicals and Pike is still alive and snoring” ... her lawyers said in a federal court filing, according to NBC News.

Pike was scheduled to be put to death Wednesday after the U.S. Supreme Court cleared the way for Tennessee to carry out her execution ... overturning a last-minute stay from a federal appeals court.