Tennessee Reviews Failed Execution of Christa Pike

Tennessee is reviewing the failed execution of Christa Pike at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution after the state’s attempt to put her to death ended with her surviving two doses of pentobarbital and emergency responders facing delays while verifying the medical crisis on Sept. 30, 2026.

Pike, 50, was sentenced to death for the 1995 murder of her 19-year-old classmate Colleen Slemmer. According to CBS News, she was hospitalized after the attempted lethal injection, later discharged, and returned to the Debra K. Johnson Rehabilitation Center.

According to CNN, Pike’s attorneys are preparing legal challenges against any possible second execution attempt, while Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee postponed executions during an independent review of the incident.

"The state has made no promises that Ms. Pike will not be subject to a future execution," Luke Ihnen, Pike's attorney, said in court.

Pike’s legal team sought preservation of evidence from the failed execution as officials consider how the case may proceed. Experts cited by CNN said the case could raise constitutional questions involving double jeopardy and cruel and unusual punishment.

"Christa Pike is the only one in which they actually injected lethal injection chemicals," Robert Dunham, director of the Death Penalty Policy Project and adjunct professor at Temple University Beasley School of Law, said.

Dunham compared Pike’s case with other failed executions, noting that some previous attempts ended before lethal drugs entered a person’s body.

"We don’t know to what degree there may be brain damage," Robert Dunham, director of the Death Penalty Policy Project and adjunct professor at Temple University Beasley School of Law, said.

Medical issues remain unclear, and Pike’s attorneys have said recovery from the failed execution could involve lasting cognitive and psychological effects.

"There doesn’t appear to be any ‘malfunctioning’ here," Robert Dunham, director of the Death Penalty Policy Project and adjunct professor at Temple University Beasley School of Law, said.

"Whatever went wrong here, with Tennessee saying that they followed the protocol, was a product of the execution process not working. That’s not an accident," Robert Dunham, director of the Death Penalty Policy Project and adjunct professor at Temple University Beasley School of Law, said.

Corinna Barrett Lain, a University of Richmond School of Law professor and author, described the situation after Pike required hospital care following the execution attempt.

"It’s an embarrassment for the state of Tennessee that after trying to kill her, they had to go to the hospital and give her lifesaving care," Corinna Barrett Lain, professor at the University of Richmond School of Law, said.

CNN reported that Tennessee would need further legal action before setting another execution date, including a request from the attorney general to the state Supreme Court and a determination of Pike’s competency.

"Accidents happen for which no man is to blame," the U.S. Supreme Court wrote in the Willie Francis case, which involved a failed electric chair execution in 1946.

CBS News reported that 911 recordings showed emergency assistance was delayed after confusion among prison officials and responders. The first emergency call came at 8:40 p.m. after officials said the execution had not resulted in Pike’s death.

"We've been carrying out an execution tonight. We've administered 10 grams of pentobarbital. The person is not yet deceased.

That started approximately 1 hour ago. And we're calling for an ambulance," an unidentified caller told the dispatcher.

Dispatchers and agencies worked to confirm whether the request from Riverbend Maximum Security Institution was legitimate before allowing responders inside the prison.

"Per supervisors here at the DEC (Department of Emergency Communications) we have been informed it is a false call. There is no medical assistance needed at Riverbend Prison," an unidentified person said.

Emergency responders later reported receiving conflicting information while waiting outside the prison gate.

"Somebody is outside the gate at the prison telling us that it's real and demanding us to go in. They say they are some sort of state official. I need somebody to get out to the gate and talk to those people," a responder said.

Officials from Tennessee Department of Correction Central Control later confirmed the emergency request was valid.

"Would have been the ones to call in and they did not make that call," a Central Control representative said, referring to who should have contacted emergency services.