Crime

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.

Ex-Dallas cop Amber Guyger will be leaving lockup after serving only part of her murder sentence ... because she's been granted parole.

The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles confirmed she'll be released after serving only 7 years of her 10-year sentence for killing Botham Jean.

Back in 2018, Guyger mistakenly entered Jean's apartment thinking it was hers and -- believing he was a burglar -- fatally shot Jean inside his own home.

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.

Tennessee Senator and gubernatorial candidate Marsha Blackburn offered a blunt solution following the botched execution of Christa Pike by lethal injection ... bring back the electric chair.

In a statement, Blackburn says ... "This situation is tragic. Christa Pike should have been executed long ago. Now, this botched process is extending the pain for the family of Colleen Slemmer. While there should be a thorough review of what happened and why the process failed, the answer is simple: bring back the electric chair and deliver justice for these victims swiftly. As your governor, I will do just that."

Blackburn, who leads in a recent poll by TargetSmart against Democratic candidate Jerri Green, has been vocal about ushering in the return of the electric chair.

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."

Michigan just wiped 20,000 convicted sex offenders off its sex offender registry ... and Larry Nassar was one of them.

Here's what happened ... Michigan's Supreme Court recently ruled that amendments issued in 2021 to the Sex Offender Registration Act can't be used to retroactively require registration due to older incidents ... and as a result, the Michigan State Police scrubbed 20K sex offenders whose crimes happened before July 1, 2011.

That means Nassar's been scrubbed from the registry ... and a search for his name yields no results.

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.

Diddy is headed back to the hole ... FCI Fort Dix is sending him back into the Special Housing Unit, better known as solitary confinement ... TMZ has learned.

Multiple sources tell TMZ ... Diddy is returning to SHU in response to this week's NBC News report about his alleged VIP prison stay -- a lavish lifestyle that allegedly featured massages, fancy meals, contraband booze, and inmates doing his chores.

We're told this is typical procedure for an inmate as prison officials conduct an investigation.

Tennessee Governor Bill Lee has halted the remaining executions this year ... after an attempt to put Christa Pike to death was botched.

In the wake of the failed execution attempts, Lee ordered "a comprehensive, third-party review" to determine what went wrong ... according to AP News.

He added in his statement ... "Carrying out a lawfully imposed sentence is among the state's most serious responsibilities, and the people of Tennessee expect it to be done in a manner that is not only legal and constitutional, but is effective."

Tennessee can move forward with convicted murderer Christa Pike's execution, the Supreme Court has ruled.

On Wednesday, the court decided to lift the stay of execution that had been ordered just an hour before her lethal injection. Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson dissented.

Pike's lawyers were trying to get her sentence changed to life in prison, arguing that her attorneys had failed to present her history of sexual abuse and mental health conditions. That's why her execution was paused just an hour before her scheduled lethal injection.

Bill Cosby allegedly failed to show up for a deposition in a civil lawsuit he's facing ... and his legal adversaries are telling the judge it's the third one he's missed ... and they want him to face some serious consequences.

According to legal documents filed by the lawyers for several women who are suing the disgraced actor and comedian, Bill was scheduled to be deposed from September 22 to September 24 ... but they say Cosby unilaterally canceled on September 21 ... despite receiving proper notice of the dates he was to be deposed.

They claim this is the third time they've had dates set for a deposition that Cosby's team has called off at the last minute ... citing an instance in April and another in June. 

And now the plaintiffs are asking the court to hit him with serious sanctions or, at the very least, an order blocking him from testifying so he "cannot benefit from his delay tactics."