Latest / Crime Stories with Nancy Grace / Botched Execution Aftermath: Christa Pike Demands Exit from Infirmary Solitary | Crime Alert 11.03.26

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Botched Execution Aftermath: Christa Pike Demands Exit from Infirmary Solitary | Crime Alert 11.03.26 · Crime Stories with Nancy Grace

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  Speaker 1: Crime Alert, hourly update, breaking crime news now. I'm Sydney Silvani.
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  Speaker 1: Tennessee death row inmate Krista Pike is fighting state prison
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  Speaker 1: officials over deteriorating living conditions following a botched execution attempt
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  Speaker 1: that left her severely weakened. Pike, discharged from a Nashville
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  Speaker 1: hospital on October 9th, claims she is struggling to adjust
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  Speaker 1: to life behind bars and remains isolated inside the prison infirmary.
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  Speaker 1: In a sworn personal declaration filed alongside an emergency court motion,
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  Speaker 1: Pike warns that her health and safety are in serious jeopardy.
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  Speaker 1: She reveals she returned to the emergency room once, though
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  Speaker 1: doctors did not readmit her for inpatient care. Pike describes
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  Speaker 1: hazardous conditions inside the institution, alleging corrections staff force her
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  Speaker 1: to carry out strenuous chores that put her at an
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  Speaker 1: extreme risk of infection and further bodily trauma. Among those tasks,
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  Speaker 1: Pike states she has been forced to scrub her own
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  Speaker 1: roach-infested shower despite her severe physical weakness. While her emergency
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  Speaker 1: motion seeks reintegration into the general inmate population, Pike makes
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  Speaker 1: it clear she cannot return to her previous housing pod.
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  Speaker 1: In her declaration, Pike explains that her former unit houses
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  Speaker 1: dangerous inmates with extensive records of violent assaults and disciplinary trouble.
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  Speaker 1: During her two years in that pod, following a previous settlement,
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  Speaker 1: Pike witnessed violent attacks on corrections officers and fellow prisoners,
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  Speaker 1: alongside individuals undergoing acute psychological breakdowns. Pike insists her compromised
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  Speaker 1: physical state leaves her defenseless, stating, I could not defend
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  Speaker 1: myself or get away if another inmate attacked me. I
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  Speaker 1: am afraid that I will be seriously hurt if I
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  Speaker 1: am moved to that pod while I am this weak.
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  Speaker 1: Rather than total isolation or violent housing, Pike requests basic
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  Speaker 1: access to shared prison life, including group meals, classes, lobby privileges,
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  Speaker 1: religious services, work assignments, and shared recreation. Currently, her only
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  Speaker 1: human interaction is with her legal team. Pike's attorneys emphasize
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  Speaker 1: that each day of continued isolation causes further harm, urging
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  Speaker 1: the court to restore safety protections and accommodate her medical needs.
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  Speaker 1: The presiding judge has ordered state defendants to file their
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  Speaker 1: response by November 4, with Pike's defense team granted until
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  Speaker 1: November 6 to reply. Pike was sentenced to death for
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  Speaker 1: the 1995 murder of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer, whom Pike and
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  Speaker 1: her boyfriend tortured and stabbed with a box cutter. Following
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  Speaker 1: Pike's botched lethal injection, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee enacted a
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  Speaker 1: statewide moratorium on executions, leaving her ultimate fate unresolved. More
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  Speaker 1: crime and justice news after this. Horrifying details have surfaced
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  Speaker 1: out of Georgia, where Atlanta police have arrested two women
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  Speaker 1: in connection with the beating death of four-year-old Kobe Cooks
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  Speaker 1: and the grievous injuries inflicted on his younger brother. According
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  Speaker 1: to the Atlanta Police Department, officers conducted an October 26th
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  Speaker 1: welfare check after Jasmine Smoke's father called 911, reporting his
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  Speaker 1: daughter claimed a child was unresponsive from medication. Responding officers
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  Speaker 1: found Kobe hidden beneath a pile of clothing inside the home,
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  Speaker 1: deceased for 12 to 24 hours. Autopsy findings show Kobe
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  Speaker 1: died from blunt force trauma, with warrants alleging lacerations to
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  Speaker 1: his liver and spleen. alongside burns, cuts and broken bones.
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  Speaker 1: Police report smoke fled the residence with three children before
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  Speaker 1: patrol units arrived, but officers intercepted her and rescued the kids,
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  Speaker 1: noting Kobe's brother suffered visible trauma. On October 29, police
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  Speaker 1: arrested Jasmine Jenkins on murder charges. A GoFundMe organized by
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  Speaker 1: Kobe's great-aunt describes him as an affectionate burst of sunshine
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  Speaker 1: whose family repeatedly tried to alert authorities. The fundraiser assists
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  Speaker 1: with funeral costs, medical bills for his brother, and support
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  Speaker 1: for their father, whose Amazon job was jeopardized. Smoke identified
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  Speaker 1: as a friend of the mother, and Jenkins faced murder, assault,
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  Speaker 1: and child cruelty charges. In New York, a civil lawsuit
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  Speaker 1: has been filed in Manhattan State Supreme Court against former
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  Speaker 1: West Point cadet Caleb Suh, who admitted in federal court
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  Speaker 1: to drugging his pregnant classmate to force an abortion. According
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  Speaker 1: to the complaint, victim Jane Doe began dating Suh in
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  Speaker 1: October 2020 when he served as her West Point team leader.
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  Speaker 1: When she became pregnant in January 2022, Suh demanded she abort,
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  Speaker 1: threatening suicide if she refused. When she chose to keep
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  Speaker 1: her baby, Suh secretly used her identity to order abortion
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  Speaker 1: pills online and obtain Xanax from a friend, even impersonating
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  Speaker 1: her on pharmacy forums. On February 4, 2022, Suh brought
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  Speaker 1: a protein shake spiked with Xanax to her barracks. After
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  Speaker 1: Jane Doe passed out, Suh shoved abortion pills into her
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  Speaker 1: vagina and mouth. When she briefly awoke spitting them out,
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  Speaker 1: Suh forced them back in, telling her, eat this, it's
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  Speaker 1: good for you. Jane Doe awoke hours later vomiting in
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  Speaker 1: agony and bleeding profusely before suffering a miscarriage at the hospital.
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  Speaker 1: While she suffered, Suh posted anonymously online, asking whether hospital
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  Speaker 1: staff would detect the pills in her uterus. After hospital discharge,
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  Speaker 1: Suh threw her miscarriage paperwork into the trash. Suh went
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  Speaker 1: on to graduate from Cornell University and enrolled on scholarship
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  Speaker 1: at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health. even asking
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  Speaker 1: a judge to postpone his criminal sentencing until 2027 to
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  Speaker 1: finish his master's degree. Jane Doe's attorney, Russell Kornblith, condemned Suh,
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  Speaker 1: announcing aggressive civil action. For more crime and justice news,
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  Speaker 1: be sure to join us for Crime Stories with Nancy
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  Speaker 1: Grace on Fox 1, YouTube, Sirius XM, and now streaming
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  Speaker 1: on Tubi. With this crime alert, I'm Sydney Silvani.