Tennessee Halts Execution After Christa Pike Survives Two Drug Doses

Tennessee halted the execution of Christa Pike on Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2026, in Nashville after she remained alive through two doses of lethal drugs.

Pike, 50, was given a dose of pentobarbital, a barbiturate that slows brain activity and breathing, according to NPR. After the first dose, she said her arm was burning and asked if it was supposed to feel that way. She then told staff to "try up on my shoulder higher."

Staff gave a second dose of lethal drugs. After that dose, Pike appeared to fall unconscious but kept breathing and snoring. Her lawyers made emergency calls, and the execution was halted. Witnesses said both syringes of lethal chemicals were injected, but Pike remained alive.

Pike was taken to a hospital, where she remains in critical condition receiving "lifesaving care," according to her lawyers. It is unclear whether she has brain damage.

Pike has been on death row since she was 18. She was convicted of first-degree murder in 1996 for the 1995 killing of Colleen Slemmer, a fellow teenager and classmate she viewed as a love rival. Pike has said she committed the killing. She is the only woman now on Tennessee's death row. She would have been the first woman executed in Tennessee in more than 200 years.

The execution was set for 10:00 a.m. CDT on Sept. 30 at the Riverbend Maximum Security Institution (RMSI), according to the Tennessee Department of Correction. The department lists Pike as inmate 261368. It planned to select seven media witnesses and two alternates. The department issued a media advisory on Pike at 11:15 p.m. on Sept. 30 in Nashville.

Media are not allowed to watch key steps in Tennessee's execution process, including insertion of IV lines. The Associated Press published a minute-by-minute account of how the failed execution unfolded. Reuters published video on Oct. 1 about Pike's lawyer describing the failed execution as cruel and torturous.

Tennessee stopped the execution of Tony Carruthers in May when medical workers were unable to insert a second IV line. Tennessee's corrections chief is Frank Strada.

Gov. Bill Lee stopped executions in the state for the rest of the year. He launched an investigation into what happened to Pike and said it "shouldn't have happened." U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn said Tennessee should "bring back the electric chair" rather than using lethal injection.

Pike's attorney Randy Spivey said what happened in the death chamber was "torturous" and "cruel." The Death Penalty Information Center said Pike was the first person in the history of capital punishment to survive after being injected with lethal drugs. DPI Executive Director Robin M. Maher said the failed attempt was "the worst we've ever seen and unlike any other botched execution in the modern era."

The broader context here is what officials who run the system must answer next. Corrections administrators must account for IV access, drug effect, limits on press access, and why a second dose was given before the halt. The governor's pause shifts any further action into the investigation record. Prosecutors and defense counsel will watch Pike's medical status, since questions of brain injury and fitness will shape filings over any future warrant. And Blackburn's proposal puts a change in execution method before lawmakers, who must weigh a new statute against the findings of Lee's review and accounts from witnesses and medical staff.