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The Metro Nashville Emergency Communications Center released recordings and transcripts of multiple 911 calls on October 12 in response to records requests from The Tennessean and the Associated Press. The calls began at 8:40 p.m. on September 30 from Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville after prison officials attempted to execute Christa Pike by lethal injection. A caller from the prison told a dispatcher that 10 grams of pentobarbital had been administered an hour earlier, the person was not yet deceased, and her breathing was very labored and slow while she remained unconscious.
Pike’s defense attorney Kelly Gleason called 911 to report that her client was still alive and breathing and needed immediate life-saving care, according to audio obtained by Good Morning America. Dispatchers then contacted the Tennessee Highway Patrol, Nashville Fire Department, Metro Nashville Police Department and Tennessee Department of Correction to verify the emergency because the initial caller lacked a required access code, Metro Nashville Emergency Communications Center records show. Responders gained entry to the prison around 9:11 p.m., more than 30 minutes after the first alert, following confirmation from prison officials.
The Tennessee Department of Correction stated that Pike had received two doses during the procedure but survived and was transported to a hospital for treatment after the incident. She was released from the hospital and returned to the Debra K. Johnson Rehabilitation Center, a state women’s prison, on October 10, the Tennessee Department of Correction reported. Pike, convicted in 1995 for the torture and murder of a Knoxville teenager when she was 18 years old, remains on death row, according to Tennessee court records summarized by the Associated Press.
A transcript of the initial call prepared by the Metro Nashville Emergency Communications Center after its audio was deemed exempt from full public disclosure under Tennessee Code § 10-7-504(h) detailed the exchange in which the dispatcher sought confirmation that the request was not a prank. The center documented a total of 10 calls and related radio traffic between 8:40 p.m. and 9:11 p.m. involving multiple agencies, according to materials provided to CBS News. In one recording, a dispatcher noted at 9:03 p.m. that supervisors had been informed it was a false call and no medical assistance was needed at the prison.
The Tennessee Department of Correction had not provided an immediate response to inquiries about the execution procedure as of October 12, CNN reported. Gleason, with the Tennessee Office of the Post Conviction Defender, described Pike as not awake and snoring during her call for help, the released audio shows. Pike’s legal team has made no further public statements on the newly released materials.
Tennessee has faced repeated legal challenges over its lethal injection protocols in recent years, according to filings in state and federal courts covered by the Associated Press. The state carried out the attempted execution of Pike at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution, where all such procedures are conducted. Pike is one of two women on death row in Tennessee, the Tennessee Department of Correction figures show.
