By Breitbart News Network | Created at 2026-10-01 14:11:50 | Updated at 2026-10-01 16:37:20
6 hours ago
Tennessee death row inmate Christa Pike is in hospital after efforts to execute her by two lethal injections failed on Wednesday night.
The attempted execution took place at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution, Nashville at about 20:00 local time.
Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee halted the one remaining execution for the rest of the year as a result.
Pike’s legal team filed an emergency motion to halt the convicted murderer’s ultimately botched execution as it was happening, saying: “Ms Pike has lost consciousness and still has a heartbeat and is audibly snoring.”
One of her attorneys told the BBC the 50-year-old is now “being provided life-saving measures” in hospital after two syringes of pentobarbital had been administered.
Pike has been transferred to an “off-site medical facility,” a spokesperson for the Department of Correction confirmed.
Pike was 18 when she murdered classmate, Colleen Slemmer. She was due to be the first woman the state had executed in more than 200 years and was the subject of a last-minute legal battle.
In a statement released in the hours after the failed execution, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee said he had ordered “a comprehensive, third-party review to determine exactly what occurred.”
He added the year’s last remaining execution would not go ahead as planned.
The Tennessee Department of Correction has reportedly said it stands by all the actions it took during the attempted execution of Pike.
Emergency vehicles arrive at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution after the execution of Christa Pike was halted Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2026, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
“The Tennessee Department of Correction followed every step of the State’s lawful, established execution protocol approved by the Attorney General’s Office,” department spokesperson Dorinda Carter told 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,” she said.
AP reports this was the second time this year Tennessee has been unable to carry out an execution.
In May state officials called off the lethal injection of Tony Carruthers, who was convicted of kidnapping and killing three people in 1994, after executioners tried and failed for over an hour to place an IV to administer pentobarbital.
