Tennessee pauses executions after Christa Pike survives failed lethal injection

Tennessee attempted to execute death-row inmate Christa Pike by lethal injection on 30 September. She survived. Pike, 50, received two doses of pentobarbital. During the attempt, she said she was in pain or that her arm was hurting.

Pike was taken to a hospital. Her lawyers say she has since regained consciousness and begun speaking. According to the Death Penalty Information Center, she is the only person known to have survived after receiving lethal injection drugs.

Pike was sentenced to death for the 1995 killing of Colleen Slemmer. The BBC and Al Jazeera describe Slemmer as 19 years old.

Governor Bill Lee ordered an independent, third-party review. He also halted executions in Tennessee for the rest of the year. That postponed the only other execution scheduled for this year. In a statement quoted by Al Jazeera, Lee said: "Carrying out a lawfully imposed sentence is among the State’s most serious responsibilities, and the people of Tennessee expect it to be done in a manner that is not only legal and constitutional, but is effective."

Correction Commissioner Frank Strada is leaving his post.

On 7 October, Nashville Chancery Court Judge I'Ashea Myles directed the state to preserve evidence from the attempt. According to Al Jazeera and The Hindu, this includes drugs, syringes, IV lines and recordings.

According to The Hindu, the attempt began around 7:30 p.m. About five minutes later, Pike raised her head and said her arm was hurting. Media were escorted out at 8:53 p.m. An ambulance arrived at 9:14 p.m. Al Jazeera reported that Pike had warned officials that her veins were difficult to find and had asked for execution by firing squad.

What is disputed

Reports differ on Strada's departure. The Hindu says he has resigned. Al Jazeera says he will resign this month. The BBC says he is stepping down. Accounts of attorney Randy Spivey's remarks also differ on whether Pike remembers the attempt. The state's Attorney General's Office argued that a preservation order was unnecessary, according to The Hindu.

What each side says

Pike's lawyers say she cannot move her arms, which are swollen, burned and blistered. DW quoted Spivey as saying: "She is angry and confused about everything right now." The lawyers say officials used at least seven needles over about an hour. They say the drug was "degraded". They want her sentence commuted.

Dr Joel Zivot, who advises the defence, told the BBC that most of the drug ended up in her arms. The Department of Correction defended its method, according to the BBC. It has not said why the execution failed.

The reports reviewed by Vocemundi do not include an official explanation for the failure. They also do not say whether Tennessee will try again.

Analysis

The case raises questions that the reports reviewed by Vocemundi leave open. The governor's review could produce an official account of the failure. Its scope, its timeline and who will conduct it are not yet described. Judge Myles's order may shape which evidence becomes available to investigators and to the courts. Several paths remain possible. The state could revise its protocol. Pike's lawyers could pursue commutation or new legal claims. The case has already been raised in at least one court outside Tennessee. A Texas court declined to halt a scheduled pentobarbital execution despite lawyers citing it, according to Al Jazeera.

Produced by the Vocemundi newsroom with AI assistance.