Christa Pike updates: Killer remains alive after her botched lethal injection in Tennessee, lawyer claims

Death row inmate Christa Pike was alive Thursday after Tennessee officials were unable to put her to death a day earlier with two doses of a lethal drug.

Pike, 50, is in critical condition, her lawyer said Thursday. She was due to be the first woman put to death in the state in 206 years, after a court overturned a late stay of execution. Experts say her survival is unprecedented.

Officials administered pentobarbital to Pike twice at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville around 8 p.m. local time, but she was later heard snoring.

Pike was being executed for the 1995 murder of Colleen Slemmer, a classmate she tortured and killed when she was 18.

The execution had already been delayed for hours after a panel of the Sixth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued a stay to allow further review of her legal challenges.

The U.S. Supreme Court later lifted that stay at Tennessee's request in a 6-3 decision, allowing the execution to proceed before Pike's death warrant expired at midnight.

Read More

Chaos in Tennessee as Christa Pike survives two doses of lethal injection

Christa Pike's failed lethal injection attempt: What is pentobarbital and why did Biden ban it?

I met Christa Pike 20 years ago. This is why she shouldn’t be executed

Key Points

• Christa Pike rushed to Tennessee hospital after surviving two lethal injections
• Pike's legal team said she was 'audibly snoring'
• Convict being provided 'life-saving measures'
• Authorities attacked over botched execution: 'How do they sleep at night?'
• Tennessee defends its handling of execution

What to know about Christa Pike's co-defendant

04:30 , Jasmine Fernández

Tadaryl Shipp remains in prison for his role in the 1995 murder of Colleen Slemmer. Shipp, who was 17 at the time of the crime, is serving a life sentence at the Northwest Correctional Complex in Tiptonville, Tennessee. Because he was a juvenile when the murder occurred, he was legally ineligible for the death penalty.

The Tennessee Board of Parole denied Shipp parole in October 2025 due to the severity of the offense. Having been incarcerated since January 1995, his next parole review is scheduled for October 2031.

Has an inmate ever survived a state execution attempt before?

04:00 , Jasmine Fernández

Yes, but it is extremely rare. Only a handful of death row inmates in U.S. history have survived an attempted execution, typically when corrections teams called off the procedure after failing to secure a usable vein for lethal injection.

Notable cases include Ohio inmate Romell Broom in 2009 and Alabama inmate Kenneth Smith in 2022.

How lethal injection works in Tennessee

02:30 , Jasmine Fernández

Tennessee relies on a single-drug protocol using pentobarbital, a potent barbiturate designed to depress the central nervous system. Delivered intravenously, a high dose is intended to quickly induce unconsciousness, halt breathing and stop the heart.

The method depends entirely on flawless IV access and proper drug potency. Without a correct dose flowing directly into the bloodstream, the sedative can fail to stop breathing, leaving an inmate conscious or in prolonged distress.

Who was the other inmate scheduled to die by execution in Tennessee this year?

02:00 , Jasmine Fernández

Gary Wayne Sutton was the only other death row inmate scheduled for execution in Tennessee in 2026. He had been set to die by lethal injection on December 3.

Sutton was convicted in the 1992 killings of siblings Tommy Griffin and Connie Branam, receiving a life sentence for Branam’s murder and a death sentence for Griffin’s. Sutton, who has spent nearly 30 years on death row, has maintained his innocence.

However, his execution — and all remaining executions in the state — has been put on hold by Gov. Bill Lee following Wednesday’s botched execution attempt of Christa Pike. Sutton will remain on death row while the state conducts an independent review of its lethal injection procedures.

Tennessee state representative slams lack of transparency after failed execution

01:21 , Jasmine Fernández

Tennessee state Representative Jody Barrett expressed frustration over the lack of transparency surrounding the state’s execution protocol.

Barrett, a Republican who has voiced growing displeasure with state officials, called the outcome “devastating” for victim Colleen Slemmer’s family.

“All we’ve done is pick the scab off of their wound and pour salt in it,” Barrett told The New York Times.

Mother of the woman Christa Pike murdered said she wanted to finish her execution personally

Friday 2 October 2026 00:00 , Jasmine Fernández

Colleen Slemmer’s mother, May, told People she almost took justice into her own hands.

“If I could have gotten in that room, I would have taken the box cutter and cut her up like she did Colleen,” May said while driving back to Florida from Tennessee. “I want to go kill Christa. How’s that?”

Christa Pike likely 'blew' a vein, which made the drugs simply burn her arm, says Dr. Joel Zivot, Professor of anesthesiology

Thursday 1 October 2026 23:38 , Jasmine Fernández

Dr. Joel Zivot, an anesthesiology professor and medical expert in the case, suggested Pike likely suffered a “blown” vein during her botched execution, causing the lethal injection chemicals to leak into surrounding tissue rather than enter her bloodstream.

“It was heard that she was breathing in a kind of unnatural way,” Zivot told the Associated Press. “I believe that she did not just naturally fall off to sleep, no one is suggesting that. So there was some degree of, kind of, chemical-induced stupor, but she continued to breathe while under the influence of that.”

Zivot stressed that execution should never be confused with actual medicine.

“Execution is never a medical act,” he said. “It’s made to look and feel like one, so all these kinds of safety features that people are speculating over ... that’s because this is not a hospital. There’s no practice of medicine here.”

Christa Pike’s lawyers make yet another plea to spare her life after botched execution

Thursday 1 October 2026 22:33 , Jasmine Fernández

In addition to sharing new, disturbing details about the failed execution, Pike’s lawyers once again called on Gov. Lee for a commutation — a request he previously denied.

Lee has ordered an independent review of the state's lethal injection protocol and paused all remaining scheduled executions for the rest of the year — at least for now.

Christa Pike's lawyers hope she recovers: 'This kind of thing should never happen again'

Thursday 1 October 2026 19:36 , Isabel Keane

Lawyers for Christa Pike said they would figure out their next steps once she recovers.

"This is awful. This kind of thing should never happen again,” one of her lawyers said during a Thursday press conference.

Lawyers suspect the lethal injection drugs were going into Christa Pike's tissue, not her veins

Thursday 1 October 2026 19:34 , Isabel Keane

Christa Pike’s lawyers said Thursday they suspect the lethal injection drugs were going into her tissue, not her veins, due to a medical condition.

Pike, 50, has small veins and a blood disorder called thrombocytosis, her lawyers have said.

Christa Pike still spoke coherently after the first round of lethal drugs

Thursday 1 October 2026 19:32 , Isabel Keane

Christa Pike was still speaking coherently after the first round of lethal injection drugs, her lawyers said Thursday.

She was taken to the hospital after surviving two rounds of lethal injections.

Christa Pike in critical condition after receiving life-saving care

Thursday 1 October 2026 19:27 , Isabel Keane

Christa Pike is currently in critical condition after receiving life-saving care following her failed execution on Wednesday, her lawyer said during a Thursday press conference.

Pike’s “right arm turned purple after the second round of chemicals put into her body,” her lawyer said.

Her lawyers said they don’t know what happened between the time the curtain was closed after the second attempt and the ambulance arrived. It was unclear if she received any life-saving care in the execution room.

Her lawyers said they have not spoken to her or seen her in the hospital.

Christa Pike still alive one day after failed execution

Thursday 1 October 2026 19:09 , Isabel Keane

An attorney for Christa Pike said Thursday that she is still alive, one day after Tennessee’s failed attempt to execute her by lethal injection.

Pike requested to be hanged, fearing too many issues with the state's current execution method

Thursday 1 October 2026 19:06 , Isabel Keane

Christa Pike’s legal team argued for an alternative method to put her to death instead of lethal injection — proposing she be hanged instead, according to a report.

A month before her botched execution Wednesday, attorneys for Pike argued that her small veins and her blood disorder, thrombocytosis, would cause her needless suffering, The Tennessean reported.

Her attorneys proposed hanging her or a line in the jugular vein of her neck, rather than her arm.

Start with the central line," attorney Stephen Ferrell said. "It makes the execution less torturous. It is available and easily implemented ... It would lessen the pain and suffering."

Her legal team also argued that hanging would cause death more quickly with less suffering.

However, both requests were denied.

In response to the requests, the state argued that Tennessee stopped the practice of hanging death row inmates over 100 years ago, and that the central-line method also had its own risks.

"Hanging is an unpredictable way of causing death," said Assistant Attorney General for the State of Tennessee Will Ayers. "It's not easy to do right. There is no evidence that Tennessee has the materials or expertise to carry out a hanging."

Democratic nominee for Tennessee governor says she would stop all executions

Thursday 1 October 2026 18:20 , Isabel Keane

Jerri Green, the Democratic nominee for governor in Tennessee, said she would stop all executions.

“If we say we are pro-life, that means we must be anti-death penalty,” she said in a statement.

Meanwhile, her opponent, Sen. Marsha Blackburn, a Republican, called for the return of the electric chair.

“This situation is tragic. Christa Pike should have been executed long ago,” Blackburn said in a statement.

“Now, this botched process is extending the pain for the family of Colleen Slemmer. While there should be a thorough review of what happened and why the process failed, the answer is simple: bring back the electric chair and deliver justice for these victims swiftly.”

Tennesseee Gov 'highly disappointed' by failed execution

Thursday 1 October 2026 17:50 , Isabel Keane

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee said he “was highly disappointed” in the failed execution of Christa Pike.

He said Pike is covered by his order staying executions.

“We should find out what happened and make those changes necessary to do what the people of this state want done,” he said.

It was not immediately clear who would conduct the review of the state’s execution procedures.

Colleen Slemmer's mother calls botched execution 'a mess'

Thursday 1 October 2026 17:22 , Isabel Keane

The mother of Colleen Slemmer — who was killed by Christa Pike in 1995 — shared her initial reaction to Pike’s failed execution.

“It was a mess,” May Martinez told NBC News on Thursday.

Martinez previously told the Associated Press that she had waited decades to see Pike’s execution carried out.

“Every time I think about it, I think about Colleen feeling that pain and trying to get up and run,” she said before the execution was halted Wednesday night.

Attorneys for Christa Pike do not know her condition

Thursday 1 October 2026 17:18 , Isabel Keane

Attorneys for Christa Pike told NBC News on Thursday that she was being treated at a hospital, but they did not know her condition.

A spokesperson for the Department of Correction told the outlet Pike was “transported to an off-site medical facility.

The Independent reached out to the hospital for an update on Pike and was told they are unable to comment at this time.

Sen. Marsha Blackburn calls for return of electric chair

Thursday 1 October 2026 16:43 , Isabel Keane

Senator Marsha Blackburn responded to the failed execution of Christa Pike, calling for a thorough review and the return of the electric chair in Tennessee.

“This situation is tragic. Christa Pike should have been executed long ago,” Blackburn said in a statement. “Now, this botched process is extending the pain for the family of Colleen Slemmer. While there should be a thorough review of what happened and why the process failed, the answer is simple: bring back the electric chair and deliver justice for these victims swiftly.”

The Republican senator is running for governor in Tennessee, and noted in her statement: “As your governor, I will do just that.”

Inmates who survive death penalty remain sentenced to capital punishment

Thursday 1 October 2026 15:56 , Isabel Keane

Even though Christa Pike survived two attempts at execution on Wednesday, she will remain sentenced to capital punishment.

While the Eighth Amendment to the Constitution bars cruel and unusual punishment, there is no automatic legal mechanism to shield a prisoner from a second attempt to carry out their sentence simply because the first failed, so long as investigators are satisfied that the proper procedure was followed and the subject’s rights were not impeded.

Inmates who survive the death penalty remain convicted felons sentenced to capital punishment and under state custody, their circumstances unchanged despite the advent of a technical fault.

The Independent reached out to the hospital for an update on Pike and was told they are unable to comment at this time.

Read more on what could happen next to Christa Pike, written by The Independent’s Joe Sommerlad

What could happen to Christa Pike now after death row killer survives two lethal injections

Thursday 1 October 2026 15:47 , Isabel Keane

Convicted murderer Christa Pike was due to die by lethal injection at a maximum security prison in Nashville, Tennessee, Wednesday night, only to survive and be raced to hospital.

Pike has been on death row for 30 years after she was convicted over the January 1995 killing of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer.

Wednesday night, she was given two doses of pentobarbital, but witnesses described hearing her snoring on the gurney she was strapped to in the chamber.

Lawyers for Pike quickly filed an emergency motion to the Tennessee Supreme Court seeking to immediately halt and stay the execution, saying she was in “unnecessary agony” and that the situation violated her right to be executed free of cruel and unusual punishment. The attempt was ultimately abandoned.

Expert Robin M Maher, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center, said what Pike had experienced was “singular and unparalleled,” pointing out that while medical complications have arisen before, no one has ever survived the drugs they were given.

A medical expert explains what could be next for Christa Pike, as no one has ever survived the lethal drugs she was given

What is pentobarbital?

Thursday 1 October 2026 15:15 , Isabel Keane

Pentobarbital, the lethal drug given to Christa Pike twice, is a barbiturate that slows the activity of the brain and nervous system.

It is a sedative that doctors often use to treat seizures. However, the Death Penalty Information Center reports that it is commonly used for legal execution.

In an execution, pentobarbital can be used in combination with other drugs or by itself.

So far this year, 14 inmates have been executed by single-drug doses of pentobarbital — seven in Texas, six in Missouri and one in Georgia.

Victim's mother traveled to Tennessee after waiting decades for execution

Thursday 1 October 2026 15:00 , Isabel Keane

The mother of Colleen Slemmer — who was killed by Christa Pike in 1995 — said she’s waited decades to see her execution carried out.

Slemmer’s mother, May Martinez, traveled to Nashville, Tennessee, in the hopes of witnessing the execution, she told the Associated Press.

“Every time I think about it, I think about Colleen feeling that pain and trying to get up and run,” she said before the execution was halted.

Tennessee Gov. orders review of execution

Thursday 1 October 2026 14:48 , Isabel Keane

Gov. Bill Lee said in a statement that he has ordered a “comprehensive, third-party review to determine exactly what occurred.”

“Carrying out a lawfully imposed sentence is among the State’s most serious responsibilities, and the people of Tennessee expect it to be done in a manner that is not only legal and constitutional, but is effective,” he said.

Press conference interrupted by arrival of first responders

Thursday 1 October 2026 14:34 , Isabel Keane

A press conference following the attempted execution of Christa Pike Wednesday night was interrupted by the arrival of an ambulance and fire truck, video shared by CBS News shows.

A press conference following the attempted execution of Christa Pike in Tennessee was interrupted by the arrival of an ambulance and firetruck behind the speakers.

Witnesses to the attempted execution described hearing Pike snoring more than 40 minutes after she received two… pic.twitter.com/C29qzX2i0v

— CBS News (@CBSNews) October 1, 2026

Medical expert says it's possible Christa Pike will have brain injury

Thursday 1 October 2026 14:17 , Isabel Keane

A medical expert says Christa Pike may have a brain injury as a result of her botched execution.

Dr. Joel Zivot, a professor at the Emory University School of Medicine, told the BBC that Pike likely never achieved a sufficient blood level of pentobarbital to cause apnoea, where breathing stops, and cardiovascular failure.

"It's very possible that as a consequence of the delay of the beginning of resuscitation she will have a brain injury,” Zivot said.

Christa Pike isn’t Tennessee’s first failed execution this year

Thursday 1 October 2026 13:50 , Joe Sommerlad

Tennessee set out to execute Tony Carruthers on May 21, 2026, but he lived to tell about it.

Carruthers, who was sentenced to death for a 1994 triple murder, survived his date with death when the execution team members could find only one suitable vein in which to secure an IV, but not, as USA Today reports, the “backup line, which is required under the state’s lethal injection protocol.”

After the failed attempt, Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee gave Carruthers a one-year reprieve, a decision the governor did not explain.

What happened to Carruthers is a reminder that things frequently go wrong in executions, even if in almost all cases the problem is resolved and the execution is completed.

Christa Pike isn’t Tennessee’s first failed execution this year

Media witnesses recount witnessing botched execution

Thursday 1 October 2026 13:48 , Isabel Keane

Members of the media shared their firsthand accounts after witnessing Christa Pike’s botched execution — including how Pike asked if the pain was normal after the second dose of pentobarbital had been administered.

Pike, 50, was rushed to the hospital late Wednesday after she somehow survived two doses of the lethal drug cocktail.

“They went through two rounds and she was still breathing at the end, it was very ragged. She lifted her head up and was looking around at one point. She said there was a spot that was burning and hurting and asked if that was normal,” Catherine Sweeney of WPLN said during a briefing after the execution was put on hold.

“None of that was normal,” she added.

Reporters were asked to leave after the second round of the deadly drug — just before 9 p.m. — and as Pike was still breathing.

“They did two separate rounds of pentobarbital, which I’ve never seen before. The protocol does say that they should do a second round if the person is still alive,” Sweeney said. “I covered all the executions last year and most of the ones this year, we haven’t seen anything like this.”

Other reporters also detailed Pike complaining about arm pain. WKRN reporter Tori Gessner heard Pike say she felt like her arm was “about to burst.”

Pike’s condition Thursday morning was unknown.

Tennessee authorities attacked over botched execution: 'How do they sleep at night?'

Thursday 1 October 2026 13:25 , Joe Sommerlad

Anti-death penalty groups have come forward to express their anger over how last night’s events in Tennessee played out.

Abraham Bonowitz, co-founder of Death Penalty Action, said in a statement: “The incompetence of the Tennessee Department of Corrections sets the bar at the lowest level tonight.

“There are no other words. This is an outrage. How do they sleep at night?”

Laura Porter, executive director of the U.S. Campaign to End the Death Penalty, pointed out that people from across the political spectrum called for a pause in executions after the botched lethal injection of Tony Carruthers in the same state earlier this year.

“These pleas were ignored,” she told USA Today. “The state of Tennessee has shown the world it cannot be trusted to implement capital punishment in a way that preserves human dignity and the rule of law. This has to stop now.”

Maya Foa, CEO of international legal organisation Reprieve, told the BBC of Pike’s case: “We cannot know exactly what went wrong, because so much happened behind a curtain – lethal injection relies on secrecy at every stage, to hide the violence of the state taking a human life.”

Recap: Tennessee defends botched execution

Thursday 1 October 2026 13:05 , Joe Sommerlad

The Tennessee Department of Correction has defended its handling of yesterday’s failed execution, which had been opposed by lawyers and human rights experts due to Pike’s age at the time of the crime, her history as the victim of childhood sexual abuse and untreated mental illness.

“The Tennessee Department of Correction followed every step of the state’s lawful, established execution protocol approved by the Attorney General’s Office.

“The lethal injection chemical in the protocol has consistently been effective, ​and ⁠the protocol does not allow for additional procedures beyond what was carried out this evening. Christa Pike has been transported to an off-site medical facility.”

Inside the ‘Satanic panic’ teen murder that put Christa Pike on death row for 31 years

Thursday 1 October 2026 12:40 , Joe Sommerlad

If you’re just joining us, here’s an overview of Pike’s case, the shocking crime she was accused of, what her defense attorneys have argued and what her victim’s family has said about their tragic loss.

Inside ‘Satanic panic’ teen murder that put Christa Pike on death row for 31 years

In pictures: Witnesses depart Nashville prison as Pike taken to hospital

Thursday 1 October 2026 12:15 , Joe Sommerlad

This was the scene in Tennesse late last night as media witnesses left Riverbend to describe what they had seen and an ambulance raced Pike to an offsite medical facility to receive emergency care.

How Wednesday’s legal drama played out before the attempted execution

Thursday 1 October 2026 11:50 , Joe Sommerlad

Pike was initially scheduled to be put to death at 10 a.m. yesterday, and witnesses had gathered at the Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville when the 6th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals voted 2-1 to issue a stay.

That court said a delay was needed to consider whether Pike’s allegations of childhood sexual abuse were fully considered at her sentencing.

The attorney general’s office appealed to the Tennessee Supreme Court, saying that halting the execution at the last moment traumatized Slemmer’s family and rewarded “abusive delay tactics” by Pike’s attorneys.

Later in the day, the high court cleared the way for the execution to proceed.

The conservative majority did not explain their order, while the three liberal members signed a dissent that said Pike’s claims deserved a closer look.

The execution finally went ahead in the evening, with officials raising the curtains on the chamber at 7:27 p.m., showing Pike strapped to a gurney.

“I’m going to leave this world the way I spent most of my life and that is in love," she said in her “last” words. She described herself as at peace.

But Pike remained awake and at one point raised her head and asked prison officials if her arm was supposed to feel that way. It was not clear what she was referencing.

By 8:26 p.m., execution witnesses reported that the second dose of pentobarbital had been administered.

Pike continued to be heard snoring behind the closed curtain until the microphone was cut off at 8:53 p.m.

At that time there was an announcement to escort media witnesses out of the area. Pike was then taken to hospital for “life-saving measures.”

Watch: Reporters describe Pike’s conduct in execution chamber

Thursday 1 October 2026 11:25 , Joe Sommerlad

@cnn

Tennessee officials were unable to put Christa Gail Pike to death Wednesday for a 1995 murder after administering two doses of a lethal drug. Media witnesses observing from a separate room shared what they saw during the failed attempt. #cnn #news #tennessee

♬ original sound - CNN

Pike’s experience ‘singular and unparalleled,’ says expert

Thursday 1 October 2026 11:00 , Joe Sommerlad

Robin M Maher, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center, said what Pike experienced is “singular and unparalleled.”

Seven other people have survived medical problems due to an execution team’s failure to access a vein to administer lethal injection drugs, but no one has stayed alive after receiving the drugs used in such executions, she explained.

Pike reportedly remained awake after received her first injection and at one point raised her head and asked prison officials if her arm was supposed to feel that way. It was not clear what she was referring to.

After the second was administered, she could be heard snoring behind the closed curtain until the microphone was cut off and the event’s media witnesses were asked to leave.

Pike said she felt ‘kinship’ with Lindsay Clancy in late interview

Thursday 1 October 2026 10:35 , Joe Sommerlad

Speaking to The Times recently, Christa Pike expressed sympathy with Lindsay Clancy, the Massachusetts woman recently tried for fatally strangling her three children.

Clancy, 36, a former labor and delivery nurse, admitted to killing Cora, five, Dawson, three, and Callan, eight months, at their home in Duxbury on January 24, 2023.

Her trial this summer saw her argue that she was not criminally responsible for the deaths because she was suffering from severe postpartum depression at the time and ended in a mistrial after the jury failed to reach a unanimous verdict due to a lone holdout.

“I feel a kinship with Lindsay,” Pike said. “We are both females who got into trouble because of uniquely female issues.

“One thing is different, however, is that times have changed a lot on awareness of women’s issues since I was put on trial.

“I am pleased she received a mistrial and is getting the help she needs. There are so many women who don’t get the help they need: me and others.”

Here’s more.

Death row inmate says she feels ‘kinship’ with Lindsay Clancy on eve of execution

How executions have risen under Trump despite wave of states abolishing death penalty

Thursday 1 October 2026 10:10 , Joe Sommerlad

Executions have risen sharply since President Donald Trump returned to power in January 2025, with 47 carried out last year – the highest annual total since 2009 – and another 28 so far in 2026.

Just six states account for the entirety of this year’s total; 15 executions have been carried out in Florida; six in Texas; three in Oklahoma; two in Alabama, one in Tennessee and one in Arizona, the Death Penalty Information Center said.

While the total is far from the 1999 peak of 98 executions, the recent increase comes despite a series of states abolishing the death penalty in the 21st century.

The record under Trump also makes for a contrast with the four years of Joe Biden’s presidency, during which the death penalty was carried out 11 times in 2021, 18 times in 2022, 24 times in 2023 and 25 times in 2024.

Here’s more.

How executions have risen under Trump despite wave of states abolishing death penalty

Pike would have been 19th woman executed in the U.S. in 50 years

Thursday 1 October 2026 09:45 , Joe Sommerlad

The U.S. Supreme Court resumed the death penalty in 1976, since which time only 18 women have been executed, compared to 1,663 men – accounting for around 1.1 percent of all executions.

Only 27 states currently carry out executions, with 11 dropping it in the last 20 years – most recently New Hampshire, Colorado, Virginia and Washington in 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2023 respectively.

Legal path forward unclear after botched execution

Thursday 1 October 2026 09:20 , Joe Sommerlad

It is ⁠not yet clear what legal avenues Pike’s lawyers or the state of Tennessee might pursue next following her hospitalization.

The failed execution came ‌days after Gov. Bill Lee refused to grant clemency and just hours after the Supreme Court lifted an 11th-hour lower-court stay, allowing it to go ahead.

Pike’s lawyers filed a federal court motion during the process seeking to halt it, citing witnesses’ accounts that “executioners had injected both ⁠syringes of lethal injection chemicals and Pike is still alive and snoring,” NBC News reported.

As we’ve seen, Lee has since ​issued a statement suspending all executions this year and ‌calling for a “comprehensive, third-party review” of Pike’s execution attempt, according to The Nashville Tennessean.

In their 226-page petition asking ​the governor to commute Pike’s death penalty to a life sentence without the possibility of parole, her lawyers earlier this week documented her history ‌as the childhood victim of violence, neglect and sexual abuse, including two rapes ⁠at ages 11 and 17.

They also cited diagnoses she received in prison for bipolar disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder.

Moreover, the lawyers pointed ⁠to evidence that Pike’s mother drank heavily during pregnancy, contributing to faulty brain development that made it difficult for their client to control her impulses as a young person.

Pike could be left with brain injury, medical expert says

Thursday 1 October 2026 08:55 , Joe Sommerlad

Dr Joel Zivot, a professor at the Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, Georgia, who has been retained by Pike’s legal team, has told the BBC the convict is unlikely to have received a sufficient quantity of pentobarbital in her blood to cause the apnoea and cardiovascular failure intended for her execution.

“It’s very possible that as a consequence of the delay of the beginning of resuscitation she will have a brain injury,” Zivot said of the possible consequences of last night’s episode.

‘Nothing about today was normal’

Thursday 1 October 2026 08:30 , Joe Sommerlad

Media witnesses have held a press conference describing what they saw after Pike was administered with the injections.

Be warned, you might find the reporter’s account below distressing to hear.

BREAKING: “I’ve witnessed, I believe, 5 executions in Tennessee. Nothing about today was normal, typical at all.”

Shocking new details emerge from the failed attempt to execute Christa Pike, the 50-year-old inmate who has spent nearly 30 years on Tennessee’s death row.

At a… pic.twitter.com/gDofxP1Lz5

— Fox News (@FoxNews) October 1, 2026

Christa Pike's failed execution is Tennessee's second botched attempt in months

Thursday 1 October 2026 08:05 , Stuti Mishra

The failed attempt to execute Christa Pike is the second botched lethal injection in Tennessee this year, after officials spent about an hour trying and failing to establish IV access on inmate Tony Carruthers in May.

Maria DeLiberato, an attorney for Carruthers, said at the time the medical staff repeatedly stuck his arms and feet with needles, then attempted unsuccessfully to insert a central line through his collarbone and shoulder. Carruthers groaned in pain and bled from puncture wounds, she said.

Governor Bill Lee halted the attempt after more than an hour and later granted Carruthers a one-year reprieve.

More than 40 doctors and nurses wrote to Mr Lee afterwards, calling for executions to be paused and for health workers to be removed from the process, arguing Tennessee's rules conflict with medical ethics guidelines set out by the American Medical Association, which bars doctors from participating in executions.

Nine Republican state lawmakers have joined defence attorneys in demanding a moratorium on the death penalty and an overhaul of the state's execution methods.

Since 2020, 170 people have been executed across 17 states, mostly in Florida, Texas and Oklahoma, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. Six states have recorded botched lethal injections in that time.

What is pentobarbital and why did Biden ban it?

Thursday 1 October 2026 08:00 , Stuti Mishra

Christa Gail Pike survived on Wednesday after being given two doses of the lethal drug pentobarbital, according to her lawyers.

Pike, 50, was alive and loudly snoring after the attempted lethal injection and was taken by an ambulance from the prison, her attorneys said. She was being treated at a hospital, but they said they hadn't been told about her condition.

She had been scheduled for execution at 10 a.m. Wednesday for the killing she committed at age 18 and would have been the first woman executed in Tennessee in more than 200 years.

Officials gave Pike two doses of pentobarbital, her attorneys said in court filings late Wednesday. The Biden administration had previously removed pentobarbital from the federal protocol for single-drug lethal injections over concerns about the potential for unnecessary pain and suffering.

Read more:

Christa Pike: What is pentobarbital and why did Biden ban the lethal injection drug?

'I met Christa Pike 20 years ago. This is why she shouldn’t be executed'

Thursday 1 October 2026 07:55 , Stuti Mishra

I met Christa Pike 20 years ago. This is why she shouldn’t be executed

Pike's execution was an unprecedented failure, death penalty expert says

Thursday 1 October 2026 07:49 , Stuti Mishra

Robin M Maher, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center, said what Pike experienced is "singular and unparalleled."

Seven other people have survived medical problems due to an execution team's failure to access a vein to administer lethal injection drugs, but no one has stayed alive after receiving the drugs used in such executions, she said.

Pike said she never intended to kill Colleen Slemmer

Thursday 1 October 2026 07:31 , Stuti Mishra

Pike was 18 when she and her then-boyfriend beat, tortured and killed 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer, whom they had met at a job training camp for troubled teens. Pike believed Slemmer had insulted her and was trying to take her boyfriend away from her.

The murder drew intense media attention in Knoxville, Tennessee, after Slemmer's body was found with an inverted pentagram, a symbol associated with satanic groups, carved into her chest.

Pike denied carving the symbol herself. Two other residents of the camp later testified that Pike had bragged about the killing both before and after it took place, and had shown them a piece of Slemmer's skull.

In a clemency petition, Pike said she had intended to beat Slemmer, not kill her, but was unable to "put the brakes on".

"I was a mentally ill 18-year-old kid," she said in a statement. "It took me numerous years to even realise the gravity of what I'd done. Even more to accept how many lives I affected. I took the life of someone's child, sister, friend. It sickens me now to think I had the ability to commit such a crime."

Slemmer's mother said that she wanted the execution to go ahead, telling the Associated Press she had waited decades to see Pike's sentence carried out.

Emergency vehicles leave after execution of Christa Pike was halted

Thursday 1 October 2026 07:27 , Stuti Mishra

Tennessee governor halts all executions after failed attempt

Thursday 1 October 2026 07:16 , Stuti Mishra

Tennessee governor Bill Lee said in a statement that he had ordered “a comprehensive, third-party review to determine exactly what occurred” and the remaining scheduled execution would not take place this year.

“Carrying out a lawfully imposed sentence is among the State’s most serious responsibilities, and the people of Tennessee expect it to be done in a manner that is not only legal and constitutional, but is effective,” he said.

Pike's legal team say she was put through 'unnecessary agony'

Thursday 1 October 2026 07:15 , Stuti Mishra

While the execution was under way, Pike's legal team filed an emergency motion in the Tennessee Supreme Court to immediately stop the process, saying that after receiving the two doses she was still alive and experiencing "unnecessary agony”.

They said the prolonged nature of the attempt had caused her "superadded physical and mental suffering".

"Ms Pike has lost consciousness and still has a heartbeat and is audibly snoring."

Pike spoke what she thought would be last words: 'I'm at peace'

Thursday 1 October 2026 07:13 , Stuti Mishra

Media witnesses, who were allowed into the witness room at 6.26pm before her execution, said Pike spoke what she thought would be her last words.

“I’m going to leave this world the way I spent most of my life,” she said, according to Nashville Banner. “And that is with love.”

Pike said she loved her detractors as much as she loved the people who were on her side.

“I’m at peace, I’m ready to be free. This is a happy day,” she finished.

Pike spoke during the process, telling witnesses: "My arm feels like it's about to burst open."

Witnesses reported being surprised by how much she spoke in the early stages of the process as she and her spiritual adviser also sang a song.

Later, they said, her breathing got laboured, but she did not appear to be in distress.

Tennessee defends its handling of Christa Pike execution

Thursday 1 October 2026 07:13 , Stuti Mishra

Tennessee Department of Correction spokesperson Dorinda Carter defended the agency's handling of the execution.

“The Tennessee Department of Correction followed every step of the State's lawful, established execution protocol approved by the Attorney General's Office,” she said in a statement to the Tennessean newspaper.

“The lethal injection chemical in the protocol has consistently been effective, and the protocol does not allow for additional procedures beyond what was carried out this evening. Christa Pike has been transported to an off-site medical facility."

Pike's lawyers rejected that account in their statement to the newspaper.

"Tonight the State of Tennessee once again failed to carry out a lawful execution. We take no pleasure in being right, but the concerns raised by Ms Pike proved to be true: difficult vein access, blown veins, degraded pentobarbital, no emergency medical care available when things inevitably go wrong, all under a protocol that remains veiled in secrecy."

Pike being provided 'life-saving measures' in hospital

Thursday 1 October 2026 07:12 , Stuti Mishra

The execution had already been delayed for hours after a panel of the Sixth US Circuit Court of Appeals issued a stay to allow further review of her legal challenges. The US Supreme Court later lifted that stay at Tennessee's request in a 6-3 decision, allowing the execution to proceed before Pike's death warrant expired at midnight.

Pike's federal public defenders told the Tennessee Supreme Court she was "still alive and snoring" and asked the court to immediately halt the process.

"Tonight the State of Tennessee once again failed to carry out a lawful execution," her attorneys, Randy Spivey and Kelly Gleason, said.

Pike was later taken to hospital where she was "being provided life-saving measures”, one of her attorneys told the BBC.

Christa Pike rushed to Tennessee hospital after surviving two lethal injections

Thursday 1 October 2026 07:11 , Stuti Mishra

Tennessee failed in its attempt to execute Christa Pike, who survived and was rushed to hospital late on Wednesday despite being administered two doses of a lethal drug.

Pike was due to be the first woman put to death in the state in 200 years, after a court overturned a late stay of execution. Experts say her survival is unprecedented.

The attempted execution took place at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville at about 8pm local time. Pike, 50, was being executed for the 1995 murder of Colleen Slemmer, a fellow student she tortured and killed when she was 18.

Officials administered pentobarbital to Pike twice, and witnesses reported the curtain to the execution chamber was drawn and reopened on two separate occasions as the procedure continued.

Reporters present were eventually told to leave, according to the Associated Press.