Tennessee officials failed to execute death row inmate Christa Pike, leaving her in critical condition after two doses of pentobarbital were administered. The botched attempt marks the second execution failure in the state this year.
Pike, 50, was injected with two lethal doses of pentobarbital on Wednesday but remained alive, according to her lawyers. She is now unconscious and on a ventilator in a Nashville hospital. The state's Department of Corrections defended the execution protocol, stating it followed all legal procedures.
Tennessee Governor Bill Lee has ordered an independent review of the botched execution and has halted all executions in the state for the year. Pike's attorneys are seeking to have her sentence commuted, citing her medical condition and the failed execution attempt.
Pike, who was sentenced to death in 1996 for the murder of Colleen Slemmer, is believed to be the first person to survive the administration of lethal drugs in the modern era. The case has raised questions about the viability of lethal injection as a method of execution.