By George Omagbemi
Tennessee officials failed to carry out the execution of Christa Pike, 50, after she remained alive following two doses of the lethal-injection drug pentobarbital on Wednesday night.
Pike had been scheduled to die at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville for the 1995 murder of her 19-year-old classmate, Colleen Slemmer. She would have been the first woman executed by Tennessee in more than 200 years.
According to her lawyers and media witnesses, Pike remained conscious and was heard breathing and loudly snoring after the second dose was administered. Witnesses said the microphone was cut off at about 8:53 p.m. local time, after which they were ordered to leave the area.
Pike was subsequently taken by ambulance to an off-site medical facility. Her lawyers said they had not been informed of her condition.
The failed execution followed a dramatic legal battle. An appeals court had temporarily halted the execution earlier Wednesday, but the US Supreme Court later cleared the way for Tennessee to proceed.
Tennessee Governor Bill Lee has since halted the state’s remaining scheduled executions for 2026 and ordered a comprehensive third-party review of what happened.
The Tennessee Department of Correction said officials followed the state’s established execution protocol.
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