Tennessee has halted all remaining executions scheduled for 2026 after death-row inmate Christa Pike survived an attempt to execute her by lethal injection, prompting the governor to order an independent review of what happened.
Pike, 50, was scheduled to be executed on Wednesday, September 30, at the Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville for the 1995 murder of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer. The execution was delayed for several hours following a last-minute legal challenge before the US Supreme Court cleared the way for it to proceed.
During the execution, officials administered two doses of pentobarbital, the drug specified in Tennessee’s current lethal-injection protocol. However, Pike remained alive after both doses and was eventually transported by ambulance to an off-site medical facility.
Her attorneys said Thursday that Pike remained alive and in critical condition while receiving what they described as life-saving medical treatment. Her long-term prognosis was not immediately known.
Media witnesses reported that Pike remained responsive during parts of the procedure. According to an Associated Press account, she complained that her arm was hurting, while witnesses later heard breathing and snoring sounds from the execution chamber for more than an hour. The observation curtain was also closed for periods during the procedure.
Pike’s lawyer, Randy Spivey, said he sought to have the execution stopped and requested emergency medical treatment after it became apparent that she had survived the injections. An ambulance arrived at the prison later that evening and Pike was taken to hospital.
Tennessee’s execution protocol provides for a second set of syringes containing pentobarbital if an inmate is not deceased after the first set. However, court filings indicate that the protocol does not specify an additional procedure if the inmate remains alive after the second set of drugs.
The Tennessee Department of Correction said officials followed the state’s established procedure.
“The Tennessee Department of Correction followed every step of the State’s lawful, established execution protocol approved by the Attorney General’s Office,” department spokesperson Dorinda Carter said in a statement. The department added that the chemical specified in the protocol had consistently been effective and that the protocol did not authorise additional procedures beyond those carried out.
Following the failed execution, Governor Bill Lee ordered a “comprehensive, third-party review” to establish what went wrong. He also postponed the state’s remaining scheduled execution for 2026.
Pike’s execution was the second Tennessee execution attempt to be halted in 2026. In May, officials abandoned the execution of Tony Von Carruthers after they were unable to establish the required backup intravenous line and subsequently failed to establish a central line. Lee later granted Carruthers a one-year reprieve.
Pike was 18 when she participated in the killing of Slemmer in Knoxville in 1995. She was convicted of murder and sentenced to death. Her case has remained before the courts for decades,
