Christa Pike joyously chuckled and sang as lethal injection failed in execution chamber: Witnesses

NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE: Days after Tennessee's attempted execution of Christa Pike went disastrously wrong, new details are emerging about what witnesses say happened inside the execution chamber.

Accounts from a reporter who spoke to Daily Mail for a report published Friday, October 2, describe an execution attempt that stretched on for hours, with Pike speaking, singing and apparently laughing as the lethal doses were administered.

Pike sang and laughed as execution unfolded

The execution at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville on September 30 took an unexpected turn after Christa Pike was given the lethal injection.

Rather than becoming unresponsive, Pike reportedly remained conscious and continued interacting with those around her as the procedure unfolded.

WVLT anchor and senior reporter William Puckett was among the media witnesses permitted inside the prison to observe the procedure.

Puckett said Pike entered the execution chamber appearing composed and delivered what was expected to be her final statement.

Her remarks did not include an apology to the family of Colleen Slemmer, the woman she was convicted of killing.

Instead, Pike addressed people who had criticized her over the years, telling them she loved them.

The lethal injection was then administered.

Pike soon began describing sensations in her arm. She reportedly said one part felt as though it might burst before later complaining that another area was throbbing.

Then Pike began singing.

The song drew from Buddhist meditation, reflecting the spiritual beliefs she had embraced during her years in prison. According to Puckett, Pike looked around the chamber as she sang, occasionally appearing to direct her gaze toward those witnessing the execution.

She also reportedly began laughing, with Puckett describing one moment as a “joyous chuckle.”

At another point, a tear was seen moving down Pike’s face. Puckett said there was no way for witnesses to know what had caused it.

Victim's mom demands 'big apology'

The newly described details have also intensified the anguish of Pike's victim Colleen Slemmer's family, who had traveled to Tennessee expecting to witness Pike's execution.

Slemmer's mother, May Martinez, spoke with First Coast News reporter Anthony Austin about what she saw from the observation area.

Martinez said Pike appeared to be talking and laughing while lying on the execution table.

For Martinez, the failed procedure was not simply a technical breakdown.

She said the experience made her feel that her daughter had once again been failed and argued that the state owed the family an explanation and ''one big apology''.

Her reaction comes nearly three decades after Slemmer's death.

Pike was convicted in the 1995 killing of the 19-year-old University of Tennessee student and was sentenced to death.