NASHVILLE, United States- Tennessee Governor Bill Lee has halted the state’s remaining scheduled execution for 2026 and ordered an independent review after officials failed to execute death row prisoner Christa Pike.
Pike, 50, remained alive after receiving two doses of the lethal injection drug pentobarbital on Wednesday night, according to her lawyers.
She was subsequently taken by ambulance to a hospital.
Lee said the state had a responsibility to ensure death sentences were carried out legally, constitutionally and effectively.
“I have ordered a comprehensive, third-party review to determine exactly what occurred,” he said.
The governor confirmed that the remaining execution scheduled for this year would not proceed.
Lawyers sought emergency intervention
Pike’s attorneys filed an emergency motion as the attempted execution unfolded, asking courts to stop the procedure.
They argued that she was experiencing unnecessary suffering and that continuing would violate constitutional protections against cruel and unusual punishment.
Media witnesses reported hearing Pike snoring after the drugs had been administered.
Witnesses said a second dose had been given by 8.26 pm, but she could still be heard behind the closed curtain until the microphone was switched off at 8.53 pm.
Journalists were then instructed to leave the viewing area.
Her lawyers said she was receiving hospital treatment but that they had not been informed of her condition.
Prison authorities defend procedure
The Tennessee Department of Correction said its officers had followed the execution protocol approved by the state attorney general’s office.
The protocol provides for a second set of drug syringes if the prisoner remains alive after the first.
However, it does not specify what should happen if the second administration also fails, according to the Associated Press.
The cause of the failed execution has not been established.
Execution followed last-minute court battle
Pike’s execution had initially been delayed by a federal appeals court, which sought time to consider whether allegations of childhood sexual abuse had been adequately considered during her sentencing.
The US Supreme Court subsequently lifted that stay, allowing Tennessee to proceed on Wednesday evening.
Pike was sentenced to death in 1996 for the murder of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer in Knoxville the previous year.
She was 18 at the time of the killing.
Her lawyers had sought clemency, citing her age when the crime occurred, mental illness, and a history of severe abuse.
Lee rejected that request on September 28, two days before the attempted execution.
Pike would have been the first woman executed in Tennessee in more than 200 years.
