US Woman Christa Pike Survives Execution After 2 Lethal Injections

Reuters reported Thursday that Pike remained alive after the two injections and that her legal team filed emergency requests to halt the execution while it was underway. Her lawyers said she had lost consciousness but still had a heartbeat and was audibly snoring before being taken to a medical facility.

The Tennessee Department of Correction confirmed that Pike was transported to an off-site medical facility after the execution attempt. The department said officials followed the state's established execution protocol and that the protocol did not permit additional procedures beyond those carried out that night.

Pike was sentenced to death in 1996 for the 1995 murder of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer in Knoxville. Pike was 18 when the killing occurred. She was convicted alongside her then-boyfriend, Tadaryl Shipp, who was a juvenile at the time and received a life sentence.

The execution was preceded by a series of last-minute legal challenges. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit temporarily halted the execution while it considered Pike's appeal, but the U.S. Supreme Court later allowed the execution to proceed. Governor Bill Lee had also rejected a request for clemency.

Pike's failed execution has drawn renewed scrutiny of Tennessee's lethal-injection procedures. Reuters reported that the state has since suspended executions for the remainder of the year and that Governor Lee ordered an independent investigation into what happened.

Tennessee revised its lethal-injection protocol in 2024 to use the single drug pentobarbital. The state Department of Correction says the protocol had undergone review following earlier concerns over lethal-injection procedures.

The failed execution is expected to prompt further legal proceedings over Pike's case and the state's execution procedures. Her lawyers have argued that the unsuccessful attempt raises serious constitutional and procedural concerns, while Tennessee authorities have maintained that they followed the approved protocol.

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