Stories
Christa Pike Execution Fails: Tennessee Inmate Survives Two Lethal Injections
- •Christa Pike, sentenced to death for the 1995 murder of Colleen Slemmer, survived two doses of pentobarbital meant to execute her.
- •Witnesses reported Pike making snoring sounds, talking, and complaining of arm pain after the injections.
- •Pike, 50, was 18 at the time of the murder and would have been the first woman executed in Tennessee in over 200 years.
- •After the failed execution, Pike was transported to an off-site medical facility and is reportedly in critical condition.
- •Governor Bill Lee has ordered a review of the incident, calling it "deeply disturbing," and postponed another scheduled execution.
Key Questions Answered
Christa Pike survived two rounds of pentobarbital injections after the lethal injection failed to kill her. She remained alive, breathing, and making snoring sounds for over an hour before being transported to a hospital in an ambulance.
Pike was convicted of first-degree murder for the 1995 torture and killing of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer when Pike was 18 years old. The brutal crime involved luring Slemmer to a secluded area in Knoxville and carving a pentagram into her body.
The Tennessee Department of Correction stated they followed protocol and that the chemicals used have consistently been effective. However, Governor Bill Lee called the incident deeply disturbing, ordered a review, and postponed another execution scheduled for later in the year.
