Christa Pike's little-known second murder attempt while in prison detailed as she survives lethal injection

Christa Pike, the Tennessee death row inmate who survived an attempt to execute her by lethal injection, had already tried to kill another woman behind bars more than two decades ago.

The 50-year-old remains in hospital after the procedure went wrong earlier this week.

Per The Sun, Pile remains critically ill as of Thursday night, unconscious and on a ventilator.

Had the execution been completed, she would have been the first woman put to death in Tennessee in over 200 years. Pike was sentenced to die in 1996 for the killing of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer.

Prosecutors said she carried out the attack with her then-boyfriend, Tadaryl Shipp, after Pike claimed Slemmer was trying to take him from her.

Slemmer's body had been beaten and carved with satanic pentagrams. Pike has never denied her role, but has described herself as 'a mentally ill 18-year-old kid' at the time.

Pike has been held at the Debra K. Johnson Rehabilitation Center in Nashville, where the 2001 attack on a fellow inmate took place. (Tennessee Department of Correction)

What was Christa Pike's other crime?

While held at the Debra K. Johnson Rehabilitation Center in Nashville, Pike attacked a fellow prisoner named Patricia Jones.

She tried to strangle Jones using a shoestring. Pike was later convicted of attempted first-degree murder over the incident, with the conviction coming in 2004.

That wasn't the last time her name made headlines from behind bars. Years afterward, two men were arrested over a plot to help her escape.

Former prison guard Justin Heflin was indicted for his part, and Pike's then-boyfriend, Donald Kohut, was also charged.

Christa Pike survived her execution attempt (Tennessee Department of Corrections)

Can Tennessee try to execute Christa Pike again?

It remains unclear whether the state with attempt to execute Pike again. Joel Zivot, a medical adviser to Pike's legal team said that some inmates become too ill to be put to death.

If her health can never be restored to the point where another execution is conceivable, he said, she might not face one.

If she recovers sufficiently, though, a second attempt could still be possible.

Pike's lawyers say her arms are burned, blistered and swollen, claiming she was struck with at least seven needles. They had raised concerns months earlier that her small veins and a blood condition could make it harder to insert an IV.

The legal team had also fought to stop the execution, arguing her crime couldn't be separated from a traumatic childhood. A clemency petition pointed to evidence her mother drank heavily while pregnant, which they say affected Pike's brain development and impulse control. It also documented childhood violence, neglect and sexual abuse.

"With time and treatment, Christa has become a thoughtful woman with deep remorse for her crime," her lawyers said.

Following the failed attempt, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee paused the remaining executions scheduled for 2026 and called for a review of the state's execution procedures.

UNILAD has approached Tennessee Department of Corrections for comment..