CHRISTA PIKE SURVIVES EXECUTION ATTEMPT AFTER TWO LETHAL INJECTIONS AND IS TAKEN TO HOSPITAL

Christa Pike, the only woman on Tennessee’s death row, survived an attempted execution after officials administered two doses of the lethal-injection drug pentobarbital before she was taken by ambulance to a hospital.

Pike, 50, had been scheduled to be executed on September 30, 2026, for the 1995 killing of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer.

Instead, the execution was halted after Pike remained alive following the administration of two doses of the drug.

According to court filings from her attorneys, Pike was reportedly still breathing and audibly snoring more than 40 minutes after the second dose. Her lawyers filed emergency motions seeking to stop the procedure and arguing that continuing it would subject her to unconstitutional pain and suffering.

PIKE TAKEN TO HOSPITAL

The Tennessee Department of Correction confirmed that Pike was transported to an off-site medical facility after the attempted execution.

The department said officials had followed every step of Tennessee’s established execution protocol, which had been approved by the state’s Attorney General’s Office.

The department also said the protocol does not authorize additional procedures beyond those carried out that night.

The state’s protocol calls for a second set of syringes if an inmate has not died after the first set. However, according to the Associated Press, the protocol does not specifically explain what officials should do if the person remains alive after the second dose.

GOVERNOR HALTS REMAINING EXECUTIONS

Following the failed execution attempt, Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee ordered a comprehensive, third-party review into what happened.

Lee also halted the state’s remaining scheduled executions for the rest of 2026.

The governor said carrying out a lawful sentence is one of the state’s most serious responsibilities and that executions must be conducted in a manner that is legal, constitutional and effective.

The incident came only months after Tennessee abandoned another execution attempt involving Tony B. Carruthers in May after officials were unable to establish intravenous access for more than an hour.

A LAST-MINUTE COURT BATTLE

Pike’s execution had already been the subject of an extraordinary series of court decisions before officials began the procedure.

The Sixth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals initially granted a last-minute stay shortly before the scheduled execution.

The court’s decision was related to questions surrounding whether claims about Pike’s history of childhood sexual abuse and other mitigating evidence had received adequate consideration.

Tennessee appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, which later vacated the stay, allowing the execution to proceed. Three justices dissented from the Supreme Court’s decision.

Pike had also challenged Tennessee’s lethal-injection protocol, with her attorneys arguing that her medical and psychological circumstances created a substantial risk of serious suffering during the procedure. A Tennessee court had previously held an evidentiary hearing on those claims.

THE 1995 KILLING OF COLLEEN SLEMMER

Pike was convicted of killing 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer in January 1995.

At the time, Pike was 18 years old and Slemmer was her classmate at a Job Corps training facility in Knoxville.

According to court records and prosecutors, Pike and two other young people were involved in the attack.

The case attracted national attention because of the unusually violent circumstances and the discovery of a pentagram carved into Slemmer’s body.

Pike has not denied responsibility for Slemmer’s killing.

Instead, her attorneys have argued that her sentence should be reconsidered in light of her age at the time of the crime, severe childhood trauma and mental-health history.

Pike’s former boyfriend, Tadaryl Shipp, was 17 when the crime occurred and received a life sentence rather than the death penalty. Shadolla Peterson, who was also involved and later testified against Pike, received probation.

PIKE HAD SAID SHE WAS AT PEACE

In the days before the attempted execution, Pike released a statement acknowledging the devastating consequences of Slemmer’s death.

She said she had spent years coming to terms with what she had done and expressed remorse for the impact on Slemmer’s family.

Pike also wrote that she was at peace with the possibility of death, although she said she was nervous about the execution process itself.

She was scheduled to become the first woman executed by Tennessee in more than 200 years.

That did not happen.

Instead, the execution ended with Pike still alive and being transported from the prison to a medical facility.

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?

For now, Pike remains alive and her death sentence has not been carried out.

The state has not announced a new execution date.

Gov. Lee’s independent review is expected to examine exactly what occurred during the procedure and whether Tennessee’s execution protocol was properly followed.

Meanwhile, Pike’s attorneys have continued pursuing legal challenges surrounding the execution and her death sentence.

The extraordinary failure has also renewed wider questions about lethal-injection procedures and the safeguards used when an execution does not proceed as intended.

For Colleen Slemmer’s family, however, the case remains tied to a killing that happened more than three decades ago and to a death sentence they have spent years waiting to see carried out.

For Pike, the attempted execution has now become another major chapter in a legal battle that has lasted for decades.