Tennessee has halted all scheduled executions for the remainder of 2026 after death-row inmate Christa Pike survived two doses of lethal injection drugs during an unprecedented failed execution attempt.
Pike, 50, was scheduled to be executed at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville on September 30 for the 1995 murder of Colleen Slemmer. She would have become the first woman executed by Tennessee in more than 200 years.
According to court filings and media witnesses, prison officials administered two doses of pentobarbital, but Pike continued breathing and remained alive. Witnesses reported that she was conscious for part of the procedure and could be heard snoring after the second dose. She was eventually taken to a hospital for medical treatment. Her condition has not been publicly confirmed.
The failed procedure has raised questions about Tennessee’s lethal injection protocol. The state’s Department of Correction said officials followed the established procedure and that the drug used had consistently been effective.
Governor Bill Lee announced that the state’s remaining scheduled execution for 2026 would be paused. He also ordered a comprehensive, independent review to determine what went wrong during Pike’s execution attempt.
The incident is Tennessee’s second failed execution attempt this year. In May, officials abandoned the execution of Tony Carruthers after difficulties establishing intravenous access.
The Pike case is expected to generate further legal and public debate over execution procedures, medical protocols and the use of lethal injection in the United States.
