Tennessee fails to execute Christa Pike after two lethal injections

Tennessee officials failed to put Christa Gail Pike to death Wednesday night after giving her two doses of the lethal-injection drug pentobarbital at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville. Pike, 50, remained alive and was taken by ambulance to an off-site medical facility, her attorneys and the Department of Correction said.

Gov. Bill Lee (R) ordered a comprehensive third-party review and said the state’s remaining scheduled execution will not go ahead 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. On Thursday he told reporters he was disappointed and still had questions about what went wrong.

State response: The Department of Correction said it "followed every step of the State's lawful, established execution protocol" approved by the attorney general. The protocol calls for a second set of syringes if the inmate is not deceased after the first set. It does not spell out what happens if the person is still alive after the second set. Officials have not yet explained why the doses were not fatal. Pike’s lawyers earlier suggested the drug may have been degraded. On Thursday, attorney Stephen Ferrell told reporters the needle appeared to have become dislodged or pierced through the vein, Fox News reported. The department has not confirmed either claim.

Legal path: Pike was set for a 10 a.m. execution Wednesday. About an hour earlier, the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued a 2-1 stay to review claims about childhood sexual abuse at sentencing. The Tennessee attorney general asked the U.S. Supreme Court to lift it, arguing the delay traumatized the victim’s family and rewarded late tactics. The high court vacated the stay that evening. Justices Sotomayor, Kagan, and Jackson dissented, saying the appeals court should have had time to decide.

The case: Pike was convicted of the 1995 torture and murder of classmate Colleen Slemmer, 19, in Knoxville. Pike was 18 at the time. She would have been the first woman executed in Tennessee in more than 200 years. Slemmer’s mother, May Martinez, who wanted the sentence carried out, told NBC News the failed attempt was "a mess" and criticized state officials. Death Penalty Information Center director Robin Maher told AP that surviving after the drugs were administered is "singular and unparalleled."

Core timeline and witness details follow Associated Press reporting via NPR and PBS, plus NBC News and BBC updates Oct 1, 2026. The Department of Correction had not confirmed Pike’s condition as of Thursday morning; her lawyers said Thursday afternoon she is in critical condition. Cause of the drug failure has not been established; Gov. Lee ordered an independent review. Refresh 3:15 PM PT Oct 1: condition updated from her lawyers' Thursday-afternoon briefing (critical condition, lifesaving care, prognosis unknown) per NBC News and Fox News; added Ferrell's dislodged-needle explanation (Fox). Earlier 'would not confirm her condition' line replaced.