By Denise Sternberg

Nashville, Tennessee – On the eve of the botched execution, murderer Christa Pike waived her last meal to do something generous for the unhoused people in Tennessee's capital city.

Pike was scheduled to be executed on September 30, but survived two lethal injections. According to her lawyers, the 50‑year‑old remained unconscious and on a ventilator afterward and is still in critical condition.

According to reports by The New York Times, Pike turned down the state of Tennessee's offer for a last meal. Instead, she asked that the $20 she had to cover her final dinner be spent buying pizza for unhoused people in downtown Nashville.

Pike was sentenced to death in 1996 for the murder of 19‑year‑old Colleen Slemmer. She herself was 18 at the time of the crime.

In 1995, three teenagers – including Pike – tortured and killed the victim in a remote area near the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. While incarcerated, Pike was reportedly convicted of attempted murder for attacking a fellow inmate in a separate incident.

Why Pike survived the execution despite receiving two doses of the drug pentobarbital remains unclear. The case has reignited a heated debate over the death penalty and methods of execution. Her lawyers reportedly are now asking for her sentence to be commuted and to take "death off the table."

The head of Tennessee's corrections department recently announced his resignation. There is also growing criticism of the qualifications and training of the personnel involved in executions.