Latest / Crime Stories with Nancy Grace / Death Row Inmate Christa Pike AWAKE, SPEAKING After Surviving Botched Execution | Crime Alert 10.08.26

Transcript

Death Row Inmate Christa Pike AWAKE, SPEAKING After Surviving Botched Execution | Crime Alert 10.08.26 · Crime Stories with Nancy Grace

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  Speaker 1: Crime Alert, hourly update, breaking crime news now.
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  Speaker 2: I'm Sydney Silvoni. Attorneys for death row inmate Krista Pike,
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  Speaker 2: who survived Tennessee's attempt to put her to death via
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  Speaker 2: lethal injection last week, appeared in Davidson County Chancery Court
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  Speaker 2: in Nashville on Wednesday as they fight an emergency legal
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  Speaker 2: battle to preserve all physical, written, and electronic evidence from
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  Speaker 2: her twice-botched execution. Pike has been hospitalized for nearly a
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  Speaker 2: week after being injected with two ostensibly fatal doses of pentobarbital.
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  Speaker 2: On Tuesday evening, her legal team reported that she was
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  Speaker 2: finally conscious and speaking, though she faces a long prognosis
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  Speaker 2: while receiving medical care for severe damage to her arms.
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  Speaker 2: Her attorneys revealed that executioners made repeated attempts to establish
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  Speaker 2: intravenous access, using at least seven needles, leaving her arms swollen, burned,
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  Speaker 2: and severely blistered, with one needle bent at a 90-degree
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  Speaker 2: angle when removed. Calling her recovery medically unprecedented, Pike's lawyers
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  Speaker 2: filed an emergency motion accusing the Tennessee Department of Corrections
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  Speaker 2: of inflicting cruel and unusual punishment through deliberate indifference to
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  Speaker 2: basic medical needs and reckless disregard for established protocols. Pike
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  Speaker 2: was convicted and sentenced to death for the 1995 murder
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  Speaker 2: of Colleen Slimmer, a fellow student at a job training facility.
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  Speaker 2: Following the failed execution, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee suspended executions
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  Speaker 2: for the year, ordering a comprehensive review into state procedures,
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  Speaker 2: while Corrections Commissioner Frank Strada announced his resignation following backlash.
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  Speaker 2: While Pike's defense attorneys are pleading with Governor Lee to
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  Speaker 2: commute her sentence to life in prison without parole... State
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  Speaker 2: leaders demand that her death sentence be carried out.
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  Speaker 3: In my opinion, the state of Tennessee needs to carry
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  Speaker 3: out the execution of Krista Pike for the horrendous and
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  Speaker 3: torturing murder that she did on Colleen back in the 90s.
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  Speaker 3: And that needs to be carried out in the state
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  Speaker 3: of Tennessee, regardless.
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  Speaker 2: Republican United States Senator Marsha Blackburn called for Tennessee to
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  Speaker 2: bring back the electric chair to deliver swift justice for victims. Meanwhile,
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  Speaker 2: Pike's defense counsel, Stephen Farrell, warned that the state must
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  Speaker 2: start telling citizens what it is doing, stating that this
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  Speaker 2: torturous execution leaves questions Tennessee refuses to answer. More crime
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  Speaker 2: and justice news after this. Harrowing developments have surfaced in
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  Speaker 2: New York City where investigators believe a 23-year-old mother and
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  Speaker 2: her 8-month-old infant daughter were intentionally pushed from a Bronx
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  Speaker 2: high-rise in the middle of the night. NYPD officers responded
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  Speaker 2: to the scene on Olinville Avenue in the Allerton neighborhood
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  Speaker 2: shortly after 3.30 Tuesday morning, finding 23-year-old Nathalie Ramirez lying
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  Speaker 2: severely injured behind the building, cradling her baby girl. Investigators
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  Speaker 2: say Ramirez's maternal instincts prompted her to wrap her child
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  Speaker 2: in a tight embrace during the fall, shielding the infant
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  Speaker 2: and cushioning the impact. Ramirez tragically died after being rushed
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  Speaker 2: to the hospital while her infant daughter remains in critical condition.
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  Speaker 2: A witness in the building spoke with ABC7, recounting hearing
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  Speaker 2: frantic screams from Ramirez's apartment immediately before the fall.
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  Speaker 1: I heard her yelling and screaming, please don't do this,
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  Speaker 1: it's my baby. You know, my baby is scared, look
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  Speaker 1: at her face. And that's when the next thing you know,
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  Speaker 1: I hear her scream and I see something hit the ground.
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  Speaker 2: Former colleagues Atlas Sean's consulting described Ramirez as a hardworking
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  Speaker 2: and radiant gem, while friends recalled her immense joy as
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  Speaker 2: a devoted new mother. However, neighbors reported a troubling history
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  Speaker 2: of domestic disturbances at her apartment, including a terrifying incident
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  Speaker 2: earlier this year. It happened in January. He was kicking
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  Speaker 2: the door down. Although no arrests have been announced, surveillance
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  Speaker 2: video captured a man walking away from the high-rise as
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  Speaker 2: emergency vehicles arrived. Deputies suspect the perpetrator currently lives inside
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  Speaker 2: the apartment building and are actively seeking Ramirez's boyfriend or
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  Speaker 2: ex-boyfriend for questioning. In Arizona, an Arizona State University senior
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  Speaker 2: and cheerleader is facing two misdemeanor charges following a July
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  Speaker 2: arrest in Tempe that her legal team claims involved brutal
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  Speaker 2: police excessive force and retaliatory prosecutions. 21-year-old Aaron Bonner was
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  Speaker 2: arrested around 1.45 in the morning on July 19 and
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  Speaker 2: is facing charges of disorderly conduct and interfering with police.
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  Speaker 2: Defense attorney Benjamin Taylor disputes the police narrative, alleging that
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  Speaker 2: video evidence depicts an officer shoving Bonner into a police bicycle,
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  Speaker 2: tackling her to the ground, punching her directly in the
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  Speaker 2: face to inflict black eyes, and touching her buttocks. Taylor
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  Speaker 2: states Bonner was simply trying to speak with officers and
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  Speaker 2: tell them her boyfriend did nothing wrong after police pushed
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  Speaker 2: him to the ground after leaving a restaurant. Tempe police
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  Speaker 2: offer a contrasting account in their report, claiming Bonner repeatedly
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  Speaker 2: intervened while officers broke up a fight and struck an
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  Speaker 2: officer on the left side of his face five or
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  Speaker 2: six times before the officer delivered a blow to her
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  Speaker 2: face to stop her. While the Maricopa County Attorney's Office
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  Speaker 2: declined felony charges and an initial misdemeanor case was dismissed,
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  Speaker 2: Tempe prosecutors refiled new misdemeanor charges months later. Attorney Taylor
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  Speaker 2: argues these new charges represent a retaliatory tactic designed to
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  Speaker 2: prevent a civil lawsuit after Bonner reported being groped and
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  Speaker 2: battered by the arresting officer. Bonner was held in custody
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  Speaker 2: for nearly 24 hours before receiving hospital treatment and has
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  Speaker 2: pleaded not guilty ahead of her November 4th pretrial conference
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  Speaker 2: in Tempe City Court, as distraught family members and community
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  Speaker 2: supporters rallied behind her. For more crime and justice news,
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  Speaker 2: be sure to join us for Crime Stories with Nancy
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  Speaker 2: Grace on Fox 1, YouTube, Sirius XM, and now streaming
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  Speaker 2: on Tubi. With this crime alert, I'm Sydney Silvani.