The 50-year-old convicted murderer is unconscious, has a breathing tube and is receiving breathing support from a ventilator after Tennessee failed to execute her through lethal injection, her attorneys said on Friday. Christa Pike is still alive but remains in critical condition.
Tennessee has halted further executions for the rest of 2026. The incident was Tennessee’s second botched execution in 2026, according to Reuters. Her attorneys have asked the court to preserve evidence. Following the failed execution, Pike’s legal team filed an emergency request in the Chancery Court for the State of Tennessee’s Twentieth Judicial District. They want the court to order the Tennessee Department of Correction to preserve evidence related to the incident. Governor Lee ordered an independent review of the failed procedure and halted any further state executions for the remainder of the year.
As a result, some or all of the pentobarbital may have entered her body incorrectly, the attorneys said in their court filing, as cited by Reuters.
Doctors are working to save her life and remove the lethal drug pentobarbital from her body, according to an emergency court filing submitted by her attorneys, as noted by Reuters report. Pike’s lawyers said the team did not realise that the intravenous (IV) lines had not been placed correctly or that her veins had ruptured. Pike is receiving treatment in a hospital. She suffered serious injuries to both arms. The court filing provided the first detailed account of the physical harm she suffered during the procedure. The execution team allegedly failed to identify problems with the IV lines.
Her lawyers said Pike sustained significant injuries to both arms during the attempted execution on Wednesday night.
