Tennessee Pauses Executions After Christa Pike Survives Lethal Injection Attempt

Tennessee death row inmate Christa Pike was in critical condition and receiving life-saving hospital care Thursday after surviving an attempted execution, according to her lawyers. Gov. Bill Lee halted executions in the state for the rest of the year and ordered an independent review of the procedure.

Pike, 50, received two lethal doses of pentobarbital Wednesday but remained alive, her lawyers said. Attorney Randy Spivey said the execution team spent about an hour trying to establish an intravenous line and used at least seven needles in Pike’s left arm. He said witnesses were later left in a darkened room behind a closed curtain after Pike continued breathing. She was eventually taken to a hospital by ambulance.

Lee said the review would be thorough and acknowledged that there were “a lot of questions.” He did not identify who would conduct it. The pause covers the planned Dec. 3 execution of Gary Sutton.

Pike’s lawyers renewed their request for her sentence to be commuted and said they were considering additional legal options. The Tennessee Department of Correction defended its handling of the execution.

Pike was sentenced to death in 1996 for the murder of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer. Pike was 18 when she and her then-boyfriend, Tadaryl Shipp, beat, tortured and killed Slemmer. The U.S. Supreme Court allowed Wednesday’s execution to proceed after a last-minute legal challenge.