US death row inmate in 'critical condition' after surviving two lethal injections

You are about to be charged £0.00* *Your gift has been applied Thank you for subscribing! US death row inmate in 'critical condition' after surviving two lethal injections The convicted killer received two shots – but was still 'alive and snoring' overnight The fearless champion of Britain, its voices and its values. Join the fight for free speech and fearless journalism. By signing up you agree to our Terms of Use, Privacy Policy, and Community Rules. Don't Miss Most Read Latest A US death row inmate is in "critical condition" after surviving two lethal injections. Convicted killer Christa Pike was due to receive her sentencing after US courts performed a double U-turn on whether the execution would go ahead. It would mark the first time in 200 years that a woman was killed on death row in Tennessee. Pike, who carved pentagrams into her victim's neck and chest after luring her into the woods, was due to be killed on Wednesday. But the execution was postponed after the US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit approved a last-minute request for a stay of execution. In 1995, when she was 17 years old, Pike tortured and murdered classmate Colleen Slemmer with her boyfriend in Knoxville. The teenage victim was later discovered with a Satanic symbol carved into her body. The next year, Pike received the death penalty, condemning her to become the first woman to be executed by the US state in 206 years. In a staggering twist, the killer has already survived two doses of the lethal drug, her lawyer said in the early hours of Thursday morning, UK time. Officials administered pentobarbital to the killer on two occasions at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville around 8pm local time. However, in what has been described as an unprecedented case, witnesses said "executioners had injected both syringes of lethal injection chemicals and Pike is still alive and snoring". Lawyers said Pike "has not lost consciousness and still has a heartbeat" and that curtains to the death chamber "have gone down twice". LATEST US NEWS - READ MORE: Journalists who saw the attempted execution said they heard snoring and complaints from Pike about pain. They added that they saw her kicking her feet so often that she knocked off the sheets laid over her. Pike is now believed to be in critical condition, while her lawyers said they hoped she would recover. "This is awful. This kind of thing should never happen again," one of the convicted killer's lawyers lamented. Her "right arm turned purple after the second round of chemicals put into her body," her lawyer added. After surviving the lethal doses, Pike received life-saving care in hospital after the botched execution. Senator Marsha Blackburn, a Republican, has called for the return of the electric chair. She said: "This situation is tragic. Christa Pike should have been executed long ago,” Blackburn said in a statement. "Now, this botched process is extending the pain for the family of Colleen Slemmer. "While there should be a thorough review of what happened and why the process failed, the answer is simple: bring back the electric chair and deliver justice for these victims swiftly."