Tennessee Halts Executions After Christa Pike Survives Botched Lethal Injection

Christa Pike remained in critical condition Thursday after Tennessee’s execution team failed to complete her lethal injection, prompting Gov. Bill Lee to halt all state executions this year and order an independent review. Pike, convicted of a 1995 murder, was alive after receiving two doses of pentobarbital, raising new questions about Tennessee’s execution procedures and IV access problems.

Christa Pike, a 50-year-old woman on death row in Tennessee, is in critical condition after surviving a botched execution attempt and being taken to hospital, her lawyer said. The case is drawing attention because she remained alive after receiving two lethal injections, raising questions about the state’s execution process.

Tennessee halted capital punishment for the rest of the year after the botched lethal injection of Christa Pike, a woman convicted of murder who survived two doses and was taken to hospital. Pike, 50, had been set to become the first woman executed in Tennessee in 200 years; it was the state’s second failed execution in months.