Tennessee governor halts all executions after convicted murderer Christa Pike He survived two fatal injections of pentobarbital.
Authorities transported Pike, 50, to a live medical facility after his execution failed Wednesday evening, Sept. 30, because protocols did not allow for further attempts to kill him, according to the Tennessee Department of Corrections.
“The execution of a lawfully imposed sentence is among the most serious responsibilities of the State, and the people of Tennessee expect it to be done not only legally and constitutionally but also effectively,” said the Governor of Tennessee. Bill Lee He said in a statement on Wednesday: from tennessee.
“Therefore, the remainder of the planned execution will not take place this year,” Lee said.
Lee canceled due to failed attempt to kill Pike Gary Wayne Sutton The execution was scheduled for December 3.
The governor also ordered a “comprehensive third-party review” of what went wrong during Pike’s execution.
The Tennessee Department of Corrections said in a statement Wednesday evening that officials “followed every step of the state’s legal, established execution protocol approved by the Attorney General’s Office.”
The statement continued: “The lethal injection chemical in the protocol has been consistently effective and the protocol does not permit additional procedures beyond those performed this evening.”
Pike, the only woman sentenced to death in Tennessee, was sentenced to death in 1996 after being convicted of first-degree murder for the 1995 slaying. Colleen SlemmerHis classmate at Jobs Corps in Knoxville, according to authorities.
He was 18 years old at the time of the murder. If her execution had been successful, she would have been the first woman executed in Tennessee in over 200 years.
Christa Pike spent nearly three decades on death row in Tennessee — and on Sept. 30, 2026, her death came less than an hour after she became the first woman put to death by the state in more than 200 years before a federal appeals court halted the execution. Pike is the only woman sentenced to death in Tennessee. […]
Pike’s attorneys said in a statement Wednesday night that “the State of Tennessee has once again failed to carry out a lawful execution.” from tennessee.
The statement continued: “We take no pleasure in being right, but the concerns Ms. Pike raised turned out to be true: difficult vascular access, swollen veins, tainted pentobarbital, lack of emergency medical care when things inevitably go wrong, all under a protocol that remains confidential.” “Christa is being treated at a nearby hospital. We have not been informed about her condition.”
Journalists involved in Pike’s attempted execution said at a news conference that they heard Pike snoring after the pentobarbital injection and that he also complained of pain, according to NBC News.
Slemmer’s mother May Martinez He was also a witness to the botched execution, which he said “was a mess” when speaking to the news outlet on the phone.
The U.S. Supreme Court allowed Pike’s execution to proceed after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit granted a stay Wednesday morning to prevent Pike’s death.