Could the botched execution of Christa Pike be repeated in Nevada? Some have concerns

The failed execution of Christa Pike in Tennessee has been the talk of the town among prisoners on Nevada’s death row at High Desert State Prison, one inmate said this week. Pedro Rodriguez, 47, sentenced to die in 1999 for the robbery and fatal shooting of Kimberly Fondy, said, 'It scares me to death, because then I’m going to end up in a situation like this young lady.' He added, 'Everybody’s nervous about it.'

Nevada has not carried out an execution in over 20 years, with the last one occurring in April 2006 when Daryl Mack was executed using a mixture of sodium thiopental, pancuronium bromide, and potassium chloride. Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson announced plans in April to seek execution warrants for three convicted killers, though two requests are on hold pending Nevada Supreme Court rulings and one has not been filed.

Nevada authorities plan to use a lethal injection cocktail that attorneys for the state prison system acknowledged has never been tried before. Under a 2021 execution protocol filed in ongoing litigation, Nevada would use one of two possible drug cocktails: one containing fentanyl or alfentanil, ketamine, cisatracurium, and potassium chloride or potassium acetate; the other containing fentanyl or alfentanil, ketamine, and potassium chloride or potassium acetate. Experts say that using an untested protocol increases the potential for error.

Scott Coffee, a former public defender with extensive experience litigating capital cases in Nevada, said, 'It’s human experimentation.' The Nevada attorney general’s office deferred to prison officials, who did not comment. Prisons spokesperson Teri Vance said, 'The NDOC does not have any executions scheduled at this time. Drug protocols are determined once the executions are scheduled.'

Sources: Las Vegas Review-Journal