What happens in the hours before Christa Pike's execution which is scheduled for today
Convicted killer Christa Pike is set to be executed later after more than three decades on death row.
The 50-year-old is scheduled to be put to death by lethal injection at Nashville's Riverbend Maximum Security Institution at 10am local time on Wednesday 30 September - which is 4pm in the UK.
It comes after years of appeals and legal challenges, with Pike's lawyers making a final push for her death sentence to be commuted to life in prison.
But Tennessee Governor Bill Lee rejected her clemency petition on Monday, saying he would not intervene in the sentence. The Tennessee Supreme Court had also rejected her request for a stay earlier this month.
Advert
READ MORE: A full timeline of the Christa Pike case
If the execution goes ahead as planned, Pike will become the first woman put to death by Tennessee in more than two centuries.
She was sentenced to death for the 1995 murder of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer, who Pike killed when she was 18.
Pike's lawyers have argued that her traumatic childhood, mental health difficulties and age at the time of the crime should have been taken into account. Pike has previously spoken about the psychological impact of knowing her execution date was approaching, saying her "nerves are shredded" and that she had experienced nightmares.
With just hours left before her scheduled execution, questions have naturally been raised about what actually happens in the final hours before a person is put to death.
And while much of Pike's personal routine today is not publicly known, Tennessee's lethal injection protocol sets out in detail how officials are expected to prepare for an execution.
8:00 am
Special Operations Team
According to Tennessee Department of Correction's lethal injection protocol, the morning begins with a briefing for official witnesses.
At 8:00am, the commissioner or designee will 'provide a brief overview of the execution for the official witnesses'.
At the same time, a Special Operations Team will fulfil a number of secondary duties, including the Team Leader, who'll confirm that the telephones and camera used to monitor the IV site within the execution chamber are 'operation'.
The same Leader will also be responsible for 'preparing the syringes of saline and Pentobarbital' within the Lethal Injection Room.
As a reminder, a second set of syringes will be prepared 'if the inmate is not deceased after administration of Set A' after being examined by the physician in attendance.
Once Set A is ready for use, the Special Operations Team will prepare the IV lines - each of which consists of a sodium chloride bag, solution set, extension sets and hemostatic clamps - for the IV Team.
Escort Team
Simultaneously, the Escort Team will greet any official witnesses to the execution, who are told to report to the Administration Building 'no later than 8:30am', before being processed through checkpoint and moved to the Parole Board Room. Witnesses will wait there 'until final movement to the official witness room'.
The immediate family members of the victim - in this case, Colleen Slemmer's family - will report to the Administration Building no later than 9:15am, where they're greeted by the Escort Team, processed and moved into a separate conference room.
10:00 am
Restraint Team
At 10am, the Restraint Team will be commanded by the Warden to move Pike from her holding cell, place her onto the gurney and secured with restraints.
Pike's arms will be strapped into the gurney's arm extensors, making sure not to tie the restraints so tight that they impact the inmate's circulation, but are secure enough to prevent Pike 'from manipulating the catheter and IV lines.
IV Team
Once Pike has been secured, the IV Team will attach a number of leads from the electrocardiograph - which will be checked to make sure it's working properly - to her chest.
The IV Team will then determine the IV sites before inserting a primary IV catheter - which will be 'used to administer the LIC', and a back-up catheter.
The Special Operations Team Leader will then double-check the catheters and IV lines have been secret properly, before opening the IV line to 'start the flow of sterile saline solution in each line'.
At this time, the Escort Team will secure both official and victim witnesses in the witness room, while the camera and audio systems are activated from a Control Room.
10:10 am
The Warden
At 10.10am, the Warden will open the blinds of the execution chamber, revealing Pike to the witness room, before contacting the Commissioner to check 'no last-minute stay or reprieve has been granted'.
Pike will then be asked by the Warden if she wants to make a final statement.
After she either gives or or declines, the Warden will then give the signal to proceed with the execution, after which the Special Operations Team Leader will assign a Team Member to confirm the chemical name and order of syringes to be used in Set A.
A four Set A syringes will then be administered, after which a signal will be given back to the Warden, and a five-minute wait for Pike's death begins.
Following this period, all witness blinds will be closed, the camera switched off.
A physician will then enter the room to examine Pike to check that she is deceased, after which he'll give his findings to the Warden. If she hasn't yet died, Set B syringes will be used.
If Pike has died, the Warden will announce that the sentence has been carried out at direct the witnesses to exit the area.
Topics: True Crime, Crime, US News, News
Rhianna Benson