- Christa Pike is currently on a ventilator and unconscious following a botched lethal injection attempt in Tennessee, according to her attorneys.
- The execution attempt was botched as the team allegedly failed to follow their own lethal injection protocol while administering pentobarbital.
- Pike was hospitalized with swollen, burned, and blistered arms, and hospital staff are working to remove pentobarbital from her system.
- Her attorneys filed an emergency court request seeking an order to preserve evidence related to the execution attempt.
- In response to the incident, Gov. Bill Lee has ordered an investigation and halted all executions in Tennessee for the rest of 2026.
- Pike was sentenced to death for her role in the 1995 murder of Colleen Slemmer, a crime that drew significant media attention.
- Pike's clemency request was rejected by Gov. Bill Lee, who stated that her history as a victim of sexual assault was not adequately considered.
Christa Pike, 50, remains in critical condition after a failed lethal injection attempt in Tennessee, where she was left unconscious and intubated. Her attorneys claim the execution team did not follow proper protocols, leading to severe injuries.1
"At no point did any member of the execution team realize that the IV lines were not correctly placed or that the veins had blown," they stated in a court filing.
Pike was hospitalized with swollen, burned, and blistered arms after the state administered two doses of pentobarbital without success.34
Governor Bill Lee has halted all executions and ordered an independent investigation into the incident, marking the second botched execution in Tennessee this year.2
Pike was convicted for the 1995 murder of her classmate Colleen Slemmer, and was set to be the first woman executed in the state in over 200 years.7
Hospital staff are currently working to remove the lethal drug from her system, as her attorneys seek to preserve evidence from the execution attempt.5
The execution team’s failure to properly administer the drug raises serious questions about the state’s lethal injection protocols, which Lee claimed were followed during the execution attempt.
“Attorneys allege the execution team failed to follow Tennessee's lethal injection protocol, with IV lines not properly placed and pentobarbital entering tissue rather than bloodstream. Pike, 50, was the only woman on Tennessee's death row and would have been the first woman executed by the state in more than two centuries.”
