Tennessee Execution of Christa Pike Fails as Inmate Survives Two Lethal Injections

Christa Pike, a convicted murderer on death row in Tennessee, is in hospital and receiving life-saving measures after authorities failed to execute her by lethal injection. The 50-year-old was scheduled to be put to death on Wednesday evening for the 1996 murder of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer, an attack carried out alongside her then-boyfriend Tadaryl Shipp. The execution proceeded only after the US Supreme Court intervened at the eleventh hour, clearing the way for the state to administer the drug pentobarbital.

Two syringes of the sedative were given. According to Pike's legal team, neither stopped her heartbeat, and she could still be heard snoring. The Tennessee Department of Correction defended its method, stating that the protocol does not allow for additional procedures beyond what was carried out. The department has not explained why the dosage proved non-fatal, though medical experts have offered theories. Dr Joel Zivot, a professor at Emory University School of Medicine retained by Pike's legal team as a medical expert, said she probably never achieved a sufficient blood level of pentobarbital to cause apnoea and cardiovascular failure.

The state correction department said Pike had been taken to an off-site medical facility. One of her lawyers confirmed she was being provided life-saving measures in hospital. Her health status remained unclear as of Thursday morning. Zivot warned that the delay in beginning resuscitation could leave her with a brain injury. Governor Bill Lee has ordered a third-party review and said the year's last remaining execution will not go ahead as planned.

May Martinez, the mother of Colleen Slemmer, who had pushed for Pike's execution to take place, told NBC News the events had been a mess. Opponents of the death penalty reacted swiftly. Maya Foa, chief executive of the international legal organisation Reprieve, said: "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." Authorities have yet to say whether they will try again to execute Pike. There is historical precedent for second attempts.

Shipp, Pike's boyfriend and co-defendant, remains in prison. He was spared the death penalty under state law because he was 17 at the time Slemmer was killed.

Pentobarbital is a potent sedative that slows the body, including the nervous system. Doctors sometimes use it as a treatment for certain conditions, but in high doses it can be used as a lethal injection to cause death. Its use came under renewed scrutiny last year after a US federal government review, conducted under President Joe Biden, raised concerns about the drug's potential for unnecessary pain and suffering. His administration banned its use in federal executions, but that did not bind individual states such as Tennessee, which can choose their own methods. In recent years, states have found some drugs needed for lethal injections harder to come by, because pharmaceutical companies have opposed the use of their products for such purposes.

The Tennessee Department of Correction has not specifically addressed an allegation from Pike's legal team that the pentobarbital it used was degraded. Drugs may degrade for a number of reasons, including if they have aged beyond their use-by date and their potency has decreased. The department issued a broader defence of its method, writing in a statement: "The lethal injection chemical in the protocol has consistently been effective."

The attempted execution of Pike was not the first in Tennessee in 2026 that did not go to plan. The execution of Tony Carruthers, convicted of kidnapping and murdering three people in 1994, was postponed in May after staff were unable to find a vein to administer a lethal injection. He was given a one-year reprieve by Governor Bill Lee. More widely across the US, the issue of botched executions continues to cause alarm. In 2022, more than a third of executions in the US were botched or highly problematic, according to the Death Penalty Information Center, an organisation that provides statistics and research on the death penalty but does not take a stance on it morally. The centre says lethal injection has the highest rate of botched executions.

An incident in Oklahoma in 2014 gained particular notoriety. The execution of Clayton Lockett was postponed after 20 minutes because the lethal injection of three drugs failed to work properly when one of his veins ruptured, and he went on to writhe and shake uncontrollably.

In the US, 27 of the 50 states have the death penalty under state law. The federal government can also carry out executions after President Donald Trump, a supporter of capital punishment, ended a moratorium last year. However, it is yet to actually carry out any executions since then.