Tennessee Halts Executions After Christa Pike Survives Lethal Injection Attempt
Officials gave Christa Pike two doses of pentobarbital, then sent her to a hospital after she survived the execution attempt, witnesses and lawyers said.
- On Wednesday, Tennessee officials failed to execute Christa Pike after administering two doses of pentobarbital, leaving the 50-year-old alive and requiring transport to an off-site medical facility.
- Convicted for the 1995 murder of classmate Colleen Slemmer when Pike was 18, the U.S. Supreme Court vacated a Sixth Circuit stay shortly before the procedure, allowing Tennessee to proceed.
- Witnesses reported Pike remained breathing and snoring after the second pentobarbital dose, while her attorneys alleged "difficult vein access" and "blown veins," arguing the state "failed to carry out a lawful execution."
- Governor Bill Lee halted Tennessee's remaining 2026 executions and ordered "a comprehensive, third-party review to determine exactly what occurred," marking the state's second unsuccessful procedure this year after Tony Carruthers's failed attempt.
- Pike would have been the first woman executed in Tennessee in more than 200 years; women represent about 1% of U.S. executions since 1976, and any future attempt would require new court action.
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The convicted person was given two doses of a lethal drug, but she remained conscious before her execution was last postponed for nine hours due to legal problems.
Christa Pike's attorneys say botched execution was "cruel," "torturous" and "predictable"
Attorneys for Christa Pike, who survived an attempt by the state of Tennessee to put her to death, say they warned that her execution could be botched in exactly the way it was.
First Woman to be Executed in TN in 200 Years
A Tennessee execution was halted after death row inmate Christa Gail Pike survived two doses of pentobarbital during a lethal injection procedure in Nashville. Pike, 50, had been scheduled to become the first woman executed in Tennessee in more than 200 years. She was convicted in the 1995 murder of her classmate, Colleen Slemmer. The […]
The Toronto Star
What to know about Christa Pike, who survived a lethal injection execution attempt in Tennessee
Christa Pike remained alive after Tennessee tried to put her to death by lethal injection, making her the only inmate to have survived after the drugs were administered.
Pacific Daily News
Christa Pike survived a lethal injection attempt – the latest person to endure a failed execution
The constitutional prohibition of cruel and unusual punishment has shaped legal discourse around failed executions, but courts have not stopped states from attempting to execute the same person again.
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