Pushing Up Lilies

What happens when someone is sentenced to death, the execution goes forward, but the person doesn't die?

This week on Pushing Up Lilies, I'm talking about Christa Pike, who was convicted of the brutal 1995 murder of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer in Knoxville, Tennessee. Pike was just 18 years old when the murder occurred, and she has spent roughly three decades on death row.

I want to start by telling you about Colleen, what happened to her, and the evidence that ultimately led to Pike's conviction. As a former death investigator, I look at cases like this through the physical evidence, the injuries, the witness statements, and what those findings tell us about a victim's final moments.

But there's another side to this story that raises some serious medical questions.

On September 30, 2026, Tennessee reportedly attempted to execute Pike using pentobarbital. According to the account discussed in this episode, she survived the procedure and was hospitalized in critical condition. As a nurse, I have a lot of questions about what happened inside that execution chamber.

We'll look at how lethal injection is supposed to work, what could potentially go wrong, and the medical and ethical questions that arise when an execution fails.

This case is disturbing on so many levels, and while the latest developments have brought renewed attention to Christa Pike, I don't want us to forget the young woman whose murder started this entire story.

Join me as we examine the evidence, the medicine, and the unanswered questions surrounding this case.

When you walk into a death scene and see someone hanging from a tree, it would be easy to assume you already know what happened. But as a death investigator, that's exactly what you cannot do.

In this episode, I'm talking about the death of 29-year-old Tasia Fortune, a mother of four who was found hanging from a tree behind a vacant home in Jackson, Mississippi. Investigators now believe Tasia was already dead before her body was suspended and that the scene was staged. Her death has been classified as a homicide, although her exact medical cause of death had not been publicly released when I recorded this episode. 

I'm going to walk you through this scene the way I would have approached it as a forensic nurse death investigator. What would I photograph? What would I look for around the tree and on the ground? Does the ligature make sense? Could she have reached the suspension point? What can lividity tell us about where her body was positioned after death? Are there injuries that don't fit the scene? Could her clothing, shoes, DNA, phone records or surveillance footage tell us that she had been somewhere else?

And this case demonstrates something I learned very quickly doing this work: your job isn't to decide what the scene looks like. Your job is to determine whether the physical evidence supports what it looks like. 

Sometimes one piece of evidence that doesn't fit is the piece you need to pay the most attention to.

Four people found unconscious inside the same house. Three dead. One survivor. No obvious injuries, no clear explanation, and weeks later, still no publicly confirmed cause of death.

When I heard about what happened on Berger Avenue in South Dallas, I immediately thought about the questions I would be asking if I were called to that scene.

On August 31, 2026, emergency responders discovered four adults unconscious inside a residence. Carlos Alonso Celorio, Martin Rodela Jr., and Katoya Deshae Ferrell were pronounced dead, while a fourth person was transported to the hospital in critical condition.

Neighbors reported activity at the house earlier that day, and speculation quickly began. But as a death investigator, I know how dangerous it can be to settle on an explanation before the evidence supports it.

In this episode of Pushing Up Lilies, I'm taking you inside the investigative process to explore what happens when multiple people become unconscious in the same environment. What did they have in common? What might the scene reveal? And how could the person who survived help investigators understand what happened?

I'll walk you through how I would approach a case like this, from evaluating possible environmental hazards and documenting the original scene to examining food, drinks, medications, witness accounts, and medical evidence. We'll also discuss why autopsy findings, toxicology, and the survivor's hospital records may become essential pieces of the investigation.

One of the most important lessons from my years in forensic death investigation is that a scene doesn't always tell the story you expect. Something that seems insignificant when you first walk through the door could eventually become the detail that changes everything.

As of this recording, the final causes and manners of death had not been publicly established, and authorities had not classified the deaths as homicides. I wasn't involved in this investigation, and I'm not here to turn speculation into fact.

Three people lost their lives, another survived, and their families deserve answers grounded in evidence.

What happened inside that house on Berger Avenue?

That's the mystery we're examining this week.

Content Note: This episode discusses unexplained deaths, potential toxic exposures, and death investigation procedures.

When I first started looking into the death of two-year-old Barrett Walsh, one detail immediately stood out to me: his mother, Corie Walsh, had reportedly been closely following the Lindsay Clancy trial and discussing it with friends just hours before Barrett was found.

The similarities between the two cases are difficult to ignore. Both involve mothers accused of killing young children inside their family homes, suicide attempts, ligatures, and defenses centered around severe mental illness or psychosis. But similarities aren't evidence, and they certainly don't prove that one case inspired another.

In this episode of Pushing Up Lilies, I want to slow the story down and look beyond that headline.

Barrett, whose nickname was Bear, was found in the basement of his Illinois home with a ligature around his neck. A neighbor lowered him, began CPR, and called 911. Corie was found elsewhere in the home with injuries believed to be self-inflicted. Prosecutors have since charged her with three counts of first-degree murder, while her attorneys say she was experiencing a psychotic episode.

From a death investigator's perspective, though, those facts are only the beginning.

I'm taking you through how I would approach a scene like this: documenting Barrett's original position before lifesaving efforts changed the scene, examining the ligature and suspension point, preserving digital evidence, reconstructing the timeline, documenting medications and other evidence inside the home, and separating what witnesses actually observed from what they interpreted.

Content Note: This episode discusses the death of a child, ligature asphyxia, self-harm, alleged homicide, suicide, and severe mental illness.

Sometimes a death scene seems to tell you exactly what happened. A child is found submerged in a swimming pool, and the immediate assumption is drowning.

But as a death investigator, I've learned that where someone is found doesn't necessarily tell us where, or how, they died.

In this episode of Pushing Up Lilies, I'm taking you through the case of four-year-old Aria Talathi, who was found in the deep end of a swimming pool at a short-term rental in Florida while traveling with her mother, Dr. Neha Gupta. What initially appeared to be a devastating childhood drowning became something very different when investigators began looking more closely at the physical evidence.

According to the arrest affidavit discussed in this episode, investigators said Aria's lungs and stomach were considered dry, while the examination also documented cuts inside her mouth and bruising along the insides of her cheeks. Authorities alleged those injuries raised the possibility that she had been smothered and was already dead before being placed in the pool.

I'll take you behind the scenes of how I would approach a death investigation like this, including what I would photograph, what questions I would ask, how I would build the timeline, and why something as simple as a door latch, an undisturbed bed, a phone record, or the contents of a stomach can become important.

And there's something I don't want us to lose in all of the forensic details: Aria was four years old. Before her name appeared in an arrest affidavit or became part of a murder case, she was a little girl who went to the beach, rode jet skis, and traveled with her mother. Her life deserves to remain at the center of this story.

I also begin this episode with a brief update on the Lindsay Clancy case following the September 4 mistrial and what may happen next.

Content Note: This episode discusses the death of a child, possible smothering/asphyxiation, drowning, and alleged homicide.

The Lindsay Clancy trial has reached one of its most important moments. The witnesses are finished, both sides have made their closing arguments, and now twelve jurors are left to decide what happened inside that home on January 24, 2023, and whether Lindsay was criminally responsible when Cora, Dawson, and Callan died.

In this episode of Pushing Up Lilies, I’m taking you through the final stretch of testimony without making you sit through every minute of psychiatrists and psychologists arguing over diagnoses. Because, y’all, even I recorded that version, and decided I wasn't going to do that to you. 

Instead, I want to focus on what actually matters.

The Commonwealth brought in its final three experts, and while none of them suggested Lindsay was well or that her suicide attempt wasn't real, they disagreed with the defense over two critical issues: whether she was psychotic and whether she still had the capacity to understand that what she was doing was wrong.

We’ll also talk about the moment religion entered the testimony and the defense asked for a mistrial, what happened during closing arguments, and the five possible decisions the jury can reach for each child, including what a finding of lack of criminal responsibility would actually mean. 

As a forensic nurse death investigator, I keep coming back to something I learned working scenes: evidence doesn't narrate itself. Phones, medications, searches, timelines, medical records and witness statements give us pieces. It's investigators, experts, attorneys, and ultimately jurors, who have to determine what those pieces mean.

And that is exactly where this case now sits.

The jury doesn't have to decide whether Lindsay suffered. Every expert agreed that she did. Their job is to determine whether the Commonwealth proved criminal responsibility beyond a reasonable doubt.

And while we talk about mental illness, diagnoses, criminal responsibility and everything surrounding this trial, I don't want us to lose sight of the reason that courtroom exists in the first place: Cora, Dawson, and Callan.

I'll continue following the case and bring you an update when something moves.

Content Note: This episode discusses the deaths of children, strangulation, suicide, self-harm, and serious mental illness.

The Lindsay Clancy trial continues, and with each new day of testimony, the questions surrounding this case seem to become even more complicated.

In this episode of Pushing Up Lilies, I’m continuing my coverage as the defense presents its case and the jury hears from family members, mental health professionals, and forensic experts offering very different perspectives on Lindsay’s state of mind.

As a forensic nurse death investigator, I’m especially interested in what happens when experts examine the same evidence and reach very different conclusions. What does the testimony tell us? What questions remain unanswered? And how will the jury ultimately determine where severe mental illness ends and criminal responsibility begins?

I’ll also take you inside some of the more unexpected moments in the courtroom and share my perspective on what stood out to me as the trial moves closer to its conclusion.

There is a lot to unpack in this week’s testimony, and some of it may change the way you look at this case.

Through it all, I’ll continue to keep Cora, Dawson, and Callan at the center of this story as we follow the evidence and wait to see what comes next.

Content Note: This episode discusses the deaths of children, suicide, self-harm, postpartum mental illness, and other subjects that may be difficult for some listeners.

Last week, I took you through the devastating events of January 24, 2023, the night Lindsay Clancy’s three young children, Cora, Dawson, and Callan, were fatally harmed inside their family home in Duxbury, Massachusetts.

This week, we move from the home to the courtroom.

In The Lindsay Clancy Trial: Psychosis, Premeditation, or Both?, I take a closer look at one of the most complicated questions surrounding this case:

What was happening in Lindsay Clancy’s mind when her children died?

Lindsay’s mental health before the deaths has become a critical part of understanding the case. Her treatment, medications, reported symptoms, and concerns surrounding postpartum mental illness raise difficult questions about postpartum depression and postpartum psychosis, and about how severe psychiatric illness affects criminal responsibility.

But there is another side to this case.

The circumstances surrounding that night also raise questions about planning and awareness. Lindsay’s husband, Patrick, left the home to run errands. During the relatively short period he was gone, the lives of all three children were changed forever.

So how does the legal system distinguish between an intentional, premeditated act and an act committed by someone experiencing profound psychosis?

Can a person appear organized or purposeful while simultaneously experiencing a severe break from reality?

And where does mental illness end and legal responsibility begin?

As a nurse and former forensic death investigator, I’m particularly interested in the intersection between the medical evidence and the investigative evidence. A case like this cannot be understood through one piece of information alone. We have to look at the timeline, behavior, medical and psychiatric history, physical evidence, statements, expert opinions, and what investigators were able to establish.

We also have to remember why this trial is happening.

Three young children lost their lives.

Whatever conclusions are ultimately reached about Lindsay’s mental state and criminal responsibility, Cora, Dawson, and Callan remain at the center of this case.

In this episode, I explore the competing questions surrounding the Lindsay Clancy trial and the challenge of evaluating a case in which mental illness and evidence of apparent planning may exist alongside one another.

Was this postpartum psychosis?

Was it premeditation?

Or is the truth more complicated than either explanation alone?

Join me for Part Two of the Lindsay Clancy case on Pushing Up Lilies:

The Lindsay Clancy Trial: Psychosis, Premeditation, or Both?

On January 24, 2023, what began as an ordinary evening for a young Massachusetts family ended in an unimaginable tragedy.

Lindsay Clancy was a labor and delivery nurse, wife, and mother of three young children. That night, her husband, Patrick, briefly left their Duxbury home to pick up dinner and medication. When he returned, everything had changed.

Their three children, Cora, Dawson, and Callan, would ultimately lose their lives, and Lindsay would survive after suffering serious injuries herself.

In this episode of Pushing Up Lilies, I walk you through what happened that night and the events surrounding the deaths of these three children.

As a nurse and former forensic death investigator, this case raises difficult questions for me, not only about the investigation itself, but about mental health following childbirth. Lindsay had reportedly been struggling with her mental health and receiving treatment before the deaths, bringing postpartum depression, postpartum anxiety, and postpartum psychosis into the national conversation.

What happens when a mother's perception of reality becomes distorted?

How do investigators begin reconstructing a scene involving multiple children and a critically injured parent?

And how do we discuss a case this devastating while remembering that at the center of it are three children whose lives were lost?

This week, we're focusing on the night everything happened: the timeline, the circumstances surrounding the deaths, and what investigators began to uncover.

Next week, we'll continue with the Lindsay Clancy case as we turn our attention to the courtroom, the evidence and arguments being presented, and the complicated questions surrounding postpartum psychosis and criminal responsibility.

This is a heartbreaking case with no easy answers.

When an entire family is lost, it's easy for the headlines to focus on the person responsible. In this episode, I wanted to do something different.

I'm taking you to Grand Haven Township, Michigan, where Mandy Karolkiewicz and her six children lost their lives in one of the most heartbreaking family annihilation cases of the year. Before we talk about the investigation, I want to remember the people whose lives mattered most, the victims.

Using my experience as a forensic death investigator, I'll walk you through how investigators process a scene involving multiple homicide victims, how forensic evidence helps determine the sequence of events, and why details like wound analysis, fire patterns, and scene reconstruction are so important.

We'll also discuss the research surrounding family annihilation, the psychological and behavioral patterns often seen in these cases and why recognizing risk factors may help save lives in the future. While we may never fully understand why these tragedies occur, we can learn from them, support those in crisis, and continue advocating for families before violence reaches a devastating conclusion.

This episode is shared with deep respect for Mandy, her six children, and everyone whose lives were forever changed by this tragedy.