Christa Pike is awake after failed execution as her attorneys seek more
information
[October 07, 2026]
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Death row inmate Christa Pike has
regained consciousness after Tennessee’s failed attempt to execute her
by lethal injection last week, and her attorneys are set to head to
court Wednesday to seek more information about what went wrong.
Pike, 50, survived two doses of pentobarbital as executioners attempted
to put her to death Sept. 30 for the 1995 beating and stabbing death of
classmate Colleen Slemmer. Pike is believed to be the only person to
survive after lethal injection drugs were administered.
Pike’s attorneys are set to appear in court Wednesday as they are
seeking more information from the Tennessee Department of Correction.
Chancery Court Judge I’Ashea Myles has scheduled a Wednesday morning
status conference in Nashville in the case.
“Against all odds, Christa Pike is conscious, speaking, and continues to
receive critical medical care,” attorneys for Pike said in a statement.
Pike’s prognosis remains unclear and, at a minimum, she faces a lengthy
recovery, the attorneys said. They said Pike's arms were burned and
blistered after the attempted lethal injection and that she is
handcuffed to the hospital bed.
Pike’s attorneys are seeking a court order to require the prison system
to preserve information from the attempted execution including drug lot
numbers, needles, execution logs and other information.
Attorneys with the Tennessee attorney general’s office wrote in a
Tuesday court filing that the court order is unnecessary because the
prison system is “obliged to maintain this evidence in other cases and
must assure it is preserved.” They said state officials have taken “the
necessary steps to obtain medical care for Pike and ascertain what
occurred.”
[to top of second column]
|
This photo provided by the Tennessee Department of Correction shows
Christa Pike on Jan. 12, 2023. (TDOC via AP)
Republican Gov. Bill Lee called what happened “deeply disturbing” and
ordered a “comprehensive, third-party review to determine exactly what
occurred.” The governor postponed the state’s only other execution
scheduled for this year.
Medical and lethal injection experts have focused on the possibility
that a problem with the IV line caused the drug to pool in her tissue
rather than entering her bloodstream. Pike’s attorneys wrote in their
court filing that “apparently at no point did any member of the
execution team realize that the IV lines were not correctly placed or
that the veins had blown.”
The attempted execution got underway around 7:30 p.m. on Sept. 30 when
Pike was given a chance to make a final statement. About five minutes
later, Pike raised her head and said her arm was hurting. At some point
she appeared to lose consciousness, but she could be heard audibly
breathing until media were escorted from the witness room at 8:53 p.m.
An ambulance arrived at the prison at 9:14 p.m. to take Pike to a
hospital.
All contents © copyright 2026 Associated Press. All rights reserved |
