911 Dispatcher Thought Call Claiming Christa Pike Survived Two Lethal Injections During Execution Was a 'Prank'
The 911 dispatcher who took the first call about Christa Pike's botched execution had difficulty confirming if it was true.
Oct. 13 2026, Updated 2:10 p.m. ET
The 911 dispatcher who took the first call about Christa Pike surviving her botched execution thought it was a "prank," RadarOnline.com can reveal in newly released audio.
The convicted killer, 50, was scheduled to be executed on September 30 for the brutal 1995 murder of a young woman, but her execution took a turn when she survived not one, but two rounds of the lethal injection drug pentobarbital at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville, Tennessee.
Christa Pike Survived 2 Doses of Lethal Injection Drug
Pike didn't die after being given 2 doses of pentobarbital.
Emergency dispatchers received a 911 call at approximately 8:40 p.m., nearly an hour after Pike was first pumped full of execution drugs. The caller reportedly revealed the condemned murderer had already been administered "10 grams of pentobarbital" but was somehow still clinging to life, prompting a desperate request for an ambulance because "the person is not yet deceased."
But the emergency call raised red flags when the person on the other end of the line failed to provide the verification code needed to prove the shocking claim was legitimate.
911 Dispatcher Tried to Determine If Call Was a 'Prank'
The 911 dispatcher frantically tried to determine if the call about Pike was legitimate or a 'prank.'
At 8:49 p.m., the suspicious dispatcher contacted the Tennessee Department of Correction's Central Control to determine whether an execution had actually gone horribly wrong or if someone was pulling an elaborate hoax.
"We are trying to find out if that is an actual thing that is happening and we need to send an ambulance" or "if this is someone that is basically prank-calling or like swatting us," the dispatcher explained.
The confusion deepened as the dispatcher scrambled to get a straight answer from prison officials. By 9:03 p.m., she announced she had "been informed it is a false call" and insisted "there is no medical assistance needed at Riverbend Prison," according to the 911 recording.
Prison Officials Didn't Confirm Call Was Real Until Nearly 30 Minutes Later
There was massive confusion in the the hour after Pike's failed execution got underway.
Minutes later, the supposed hoax took another bizarre twist when an emergency responder revealed that someone claiming to be a state official had shown up outside the prison gates, demanding that crews rush inside.
"Somebody is outside the gate at the prison telling us that it's real and demanding us to go in. They say they are some sort of state official. I need somebody to get out to the gate and talk to those people," the responder reported.
According to call logs, prison officials didn't acknowledge the frantic plea for emergency assistance until 9:11 p.m., nearly half an hour after the first 911 call.
Christa Pike Already Out of the Hospital and Back in Prison
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Pike spent 10 days in the hospital recovering from the botched execution attempt.
The convicted murderer was strapped to an execution chamber gurney for nearly an hour as medical personnel repeatedly jabbed her with needles. Her attorney, Randy Spivey, claimed she was stuck at least seven times, with one needle emerging from her arm bent at a shocking 90-degree angle.
Pike managed to survive the execution attempt, with witnesses saying they could hear her "snoring" more than an hour after the execution began.
After 10 days in the hospital, Pike made a recovery and was discharged from the hospital and transferred back to prison, where she continues to receive medical treatment, according to her legal team.
"She is grateful to the first responders and her medical team for their care in these extraordinary circumstances," her attorney said in a statement.
