Tennessee Governor Bill Lee has ordered a halt to executions in the state after officials failed to carry out the lethal injection of death row inmate Christa Pike, who survived two doses of the lethal drug on Wednesday.
Pike, 50, was given two doses of pentobarbital during the scheduled execution. According to her attorneys, she remained alive — still with a heartbeat and snoring — and was transported by ambulance to a hospital. Her attorneys said the state had not informed them of her condition as of Thursday.
A scheduled execution that fell apart
The execution had been set for 10 a.m. Wednesday. About an hour before it was due to begin, a federal appeals court halted it, but the US Supreme Court overturned that stay hours later and the procedure went ahead — and then failed.
The Tennessee Department of Correction said it followed every step of the execution protocol. But the protocol only covers a second set of syringes and does not address what happens if the person is alive after it. One death penalty expert described Wednesday's failure as unprecedented.
Historic context
Pike was convicted of the 1995 murder of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer, a crime she committed when she was 18. She would have been the first woman executed in Tennessee in more than 200 years.
Governor Lee ordered "a comprehensive, third-party review to determine exactly what occurred." The one execution remaining on Tennessee's calendar for the rest of 2026 will not take place this year, and no future dates will be set until the review is complete.
The failed execution has reignited scrutiny of lethal injection protocols in the United States, with the state's own review now set to determine why two doses of the drug did not work.
Sources:
https://www.wcsufm.org/latest-from-...r-christa-gail-pike-survives-lethal-injection
https://www.stuff.co.nz/world-news/361041182/tennessee-unable-carry-out-execution-lethal-inject
Pike, 50, was given two doses of pentobarbital during the scheduled execution. According to her attorneys, she remained alive — still with a heartbeat and snoring — and was transported by ambulance to a hospital. Her attorneys said the state had not informed them of her condition as of Thursday.
A scheduled execution that fell apart
The execution had been set for 10 a.m. Wednesday. About an hour before it was due to begin, a federal appeals court halted it, but the US Supreme Court overturned that stay hours later and the procedure went ahead — and then failed.
The Tennessee Department of Correction said it followed every step of the execution protocol. But the protocol only covers a second set of syringes and does not address what happens if the person is alive after it. One death penalty expert described Wednesday's failure as unprecedented.
Historic context
Pike was convicted of the 1995 murder of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer, a crime she committed when she was 18. She would have been the first woman executed in Tennessee in more than 200 years.
Governor Lee ordered "a comprehensive, third-party review to determine exactly what occurred." The one execution remaining on Tennessee's calendar for the rest of 2026 will not take place this year, and no future dates will be set until the review is complete.
The failed execution has reignited scrutiny of lethal injection protocols in the United States, with the state's own review now set to determine why two doses of the drug did not work.
Sources:
https://www.wcsufm.org/latest-from-...r-christa-gail-pike-survives-lethal-injection
https://www.stuff.co.nz/world-news/361041182/tennessee-unable-carry-out-execution-lethal-inject
