Tennessee's execution of Christa Pike, a 50-year-old death row inmate, failed after two lethal injections failed to kill her. The execution, which was the subject of a last-minute legal battle, was halted as she was taken to a hospital.
Pike, who was sentenced to death in 1996 for the murder of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer, was given two doses of pentobarbital. Witnesses reported that she was still alive 40 minutes after the injections. Her legal team filed an emergency motion to halt the execution, stating that she had lost consciousness and was still alive.
Tennessee's Department of Correction stated that they followed the established execution protocol. However, Pike's lawyers claimed that the execution was botched, citing issues such as difficult vein access and degraded pentobarbital. The state has ordered a third-party review to determine what went wrong.
The execution attempt was not the first in Tennessee in 2026 to be postponed. The execution of Tony Carruthers was also delayed in May after staff were unable to find a vein to administer a lethal drug.