Christa Pike survived two lethal injections in Tennessee. The failed execution prompted an immediate state review.
Christa Pike survived an attempted execution in Tennessee after prison officials administered two doses of pentobarbital but failed to cause her death Wednesday. Pike, 50, was later taken by ambulance from Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville to an off-site medical facility, according to the Tennessee Department of Correction and her attorneys.
The execution went ahead after a series of last-minute court actions. The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals had temporarily blocked the execution earlier Wednesday, but the U.S. Supreme Court subsequently lifted that stay, allowing Tennessee officials to proceed. Pike’s attorneys then filed an emergency motion after the injections, saying she remained alive and had a heartbeat.
Witnesses reported that Pike continued breathing and could be heard snoring after the injections. The state’s corrections department said it followed its established execution protocol and confirmed that Pike had been transported to an off-site medical facility. Her medical condition was not immediately made public.
Pike was sentenced to death for the 1995 killing of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer, a fellow student at a Tennessee vocational school. Pike was 18 at the time of the killing and has spent about three decades on death row. Her execution would have been the first of a woman by Tennessee in more than 200 years.
The failed execution prompted Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee to halt the state’s remaining scheduled executions for 2026 and order an independent review of what happened. Another Tennessee prisoner, Gary Wayne Sutton, had been scheduled for execution later this year. The review is expected to examine the state’s execution procedures, while Pike’s legal case remains subject to further court proceedings.
Information for this report was compiled from The Associated Press, Reuters, the U.S. Supreme Court, the Tennessee Department of Correction and court filings.