Audio shows 911 operators questioning whether Krista Pike's failed warrant call was a prank

Dispatchers initially dismissed Krista Pike's botched execution as a prank call and delayed an ambulance response to the Riverbend prison, 911 audio shows.

The 911 dispatch from the botched execution of Christa Pike, the chaos, the confusion has delayed the emergency response.

911 dispatch recordings show that a series of miscommunications led to a delay in emergency response immediately after the botched execution of death row inmate Krista Pike by the Tennessee Department of Corrections.

During the call, the anonymous caller informed the operators of the failed run, but was unable to provide the operators with a code that would verify the legitimacy of the call.

After that call, the operators sought to determine the authenticity of the audio representations.

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The dispatcher explains to another operator that the caller said, "They did the execution, the subject is not dead and they need an ambulance because he's not breathing normally."

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The operator can be heard saying, "We're trying to figure out if this is a real thing that's going on and we need to send an ambulance, and/or if you need police assistance, or if this is someone who's basically playing a prank or trying to run us over."

In another clip of the internal dispatcher's audio, the operator can be heard turning off the emergency response.

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"We have been notified by the supervisors here at DEC (Department of Emergency Communications) that this is a false call," a dispatcher is heard saying at approximately 9:03 p.m. "There is no need for medical assistance at Riverbend Prison."

Additional correspondence between an operator and someone who appears to work at the Riverbend prison revealed further confusion.

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"We received a call about a failed execution at your kids center and are just calling to confirm," a dispatcher said.

"Um… who called you?" The prison employee answered.

"Is there like a sergeant I can talk to or a supervisor?" the dispatcher asked.

"Who called you? Do you know?" said the employee.

"No, we don't know exactly," replied the dispatcher.

"I'm told that no one from our facility has contacted you, so there's really nothing to talk about at this time," the employee said.

Krista Pike is now conscious and talking after surviving 2 doses of lethal injection

Pike's attorney, Kelly Gleason, also called 911 to report the botched execution, audio recordings show.

“What's going on is that my client, Christa Gale Pike, is on a state death row. "He has completed the protocol steps and the last we heard from the attorney present, he is still alive and breathing and in need of immediate care."

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But at the same time, a first responder can be heard in a separate recording saying, "There's somebody outside the gate in jail telling us it's real and asking us to go in. They say they're some kind of government official. I need somebody to go out the gate and talk to those people."

At that point, central control cleared the way for first responders to enter the prison at 9:11 p.m.

Pike was convicted in 1996 of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit first-degree murder for the 1995 torture and murder of 19-year-old Colin Slammer. He was sentenced to death and was on death row for more than 30 years when he was executed by lethal injection on September 30.

Execution officials at the prison administered a single dose of pentobarbital, a central nervous system depressant used in Tennessee's execution protocol. Once Pike was sober after the initial dose, officials administered a second dose per state protocol.

When the second dose didn't kill Pike, Tennessee's single-drug execution protocol prevented authorities from administering a third.

Pike was taken to a hospital, where he was put on a ventilator and remained unconscious for six days, waking up on October 6, according to his lawyers.

Pike was returned to the Debra K. Johnson Rehabilitation Center for Women on Oct. 10, where she continues to receive medical care, her attorneys said in a statement.

After the failed execution, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee has halted all executions in the state pending further investigation.

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