A botched execution in Tennessee has left death-row prisoner Christa Pike in critical condition after she survived two doses of lethal injection, prompting Governor Bill Lee to suspend the state’s remaining execution this year and order an independent review.
Pike, 50, was taken by ambulance from Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville on Wednesday, September 30, after officials failed to put her to death for the 1995 murder of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer.
Her lawyers said she remained alive after receiving two doses of pentobarbital and was later transported to hospital for what they described as life-saving treatment. They said on Thursday that they did not yet know her prognosis.
Media witnesses reported that Pike continued breathing and making snoring sounds after the injections. She was also heard speaking during the procedure and complained that her arm was hurting.
The Tennessee Department of Correction said it had followed every step of the state’s approved execution protocol. The department said the chemical used had “consistently been effective” and that the procedure did not permit any additional measures beyond those carried out.
Mr Lee described the failure as “deeply disturbing” and said a comprehensive third-party investigation would establish exactly what had happened. The governor also postponed another execution scheduled for later in 2026.
Pike’s execution had already been delayed for several hours on Wednesday while courts considered a last-minute legal challenge. The US Supreme Court later cleared the way for the procedure to proceed.
She would have been the first woman executed in Tennessee in more than 200 years. Pike was 18 when she and her boyfriend were convicted over Slemmer’s killing at a job-training facility in Knoxville.
