نُقلت السجينة الأمريكية المحكوم عليها بالإعدام كريستا بايك إلى المستشفى بعد فشل محاولة تنفيذ الحكم بحقها، رغم حقنها بجرعتين من المواد القاتلة؛ وفق ما أكده فريقها القانوني.
وقدّم محاموها طلبًا عاجلًا لوقف التنفيذ أثناء العملية، مشيرين إلى أنها فقدت الوعي بينما ظل قلبها ينبض، وكان يُسمع صوت شخيرها.
وقال أحد محاميها لبي بي سي إن بايك، البالغة 50 عامًا، تخضع لإجراءات طبية لإنقاذ حياتها بعد إعطائها حقنتين من مادة البنتوباربيتال. وكانت قد أُدينت عام 1996 بقتل كولين سليمر، البالغة 19 عامًا، في جريمة أثارت جدلًا واسعًا، قبل أن تسمح المحكمة العليا الأمريكية بتنفيذ الحقنتين القاتلتين في اللحظات الأخيرة.
وكانت بايك في الثامنة عشرة عند ارتكاب الجريمة مع صديقها آنذاك تاداريل شيب، بعد أن التقيا الضحية في معسكر تدريبي مخصص للمراهقين الذين يواجهون مشكلات. ومن بين المطالبين بتنفيذ الحكم والدة الضحية، ماي مارتينيز، التي وصفت ما جرى بأنه «فوضوي».
وجرت محاولة الإعدام في سجن ريفربند شديد الحراسة في ناشفيل، قرابة الثامنة مساءً بالتوقيت المحلي.
About an hour before the moment her case was supposed to be closed, a surprising court decision came to halt the execution of Krista Pike, the only woman on death row in the state of Tennessee, granting her a new opportunity to face legal challenges related to her case.
Pike, who is 50 years old, was scheduled to be executed by lethal injection on Wednesday, September 30, 2026, in a process that would have made her the first woman executed in Tennessee in over two centuries. However, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a last-minute decision to temporarily stay the execution, paving the way for consideration of new legal challenges presented by her defense team.
The case dates back to 1995, when Pike was eighteen years old and was convicted of murdering her classmate, Colleen Slemmer, before receiving a death sentence. Pike had admitted to committing the crime, but her defense focused in the recent appeals on the harsh circumstances she endured during her childhood, including severe sexual abuse, along with psychological issues that her lawyers claimed were not adequately assessed or addressed at the time of sentencing.
Hours before the court decision, Pike spoke about her situation in a letter conveyed by NBC News, stating that she does not fear death, but she was feeling anxious about how the execution would be carried out. She added that she feels at peace, regardless of the outcome of the clemency request submitted in her case.
Pike has lived for more than three decades waiting for the execution to be carried out, remaining the only woman on death row in Tennessee throughout those years. With her case returning to the courts, the debate has reignited regarding the impact of childhood trauma and abuse, along with mental disorders, on criminal responsibility and the sentences imposed on individuals.
With this decision, the case is not resolved, but it has received a new reprieve after its conclusion seemed imminent, while attention now turns to what the Court of Appeals will decide regarding the appeals submitted by the defense team.
