What happened in failed execution of Christa Pike – and what next?

1 October 2026, 11: 29 BST. Updated 14 minutes ago.

Key points

• Pike, 50, was sentenced to death in 1996 for the murder of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer, an attack that was perpetrated alongside her then-boyfriend Tadaryl Shipp.
• The attempted execution of Pike was not the first in Tennessee in 2026 that did not go to plan.
• May Martinez, the mother of Colleen Slemmer who had pushed for Pike's execution to take place, informed NBC News the events had been "a mess".
• The Tennessee Department of Correction has not specifically addressed an allegation from Pike's legal team that the pentobarbital it applied was "degraded".
• An incident in Oklahoma in 2014 gained particular notoriety.

US convicted murderer Christa Pike is in hospital and being given "life-saving measures" after Tennessee authorities failed in their attempt to execute her by lethal injection.

For context, the case of Pike, whose attempted execution had already been the subject of a high-profile legal battle, has raised a number of questions.

These include what went went wrong, what happens next, and – for opponents of the death penalty – fresh reservations around the suffering of an inmate when an execution does not go to plan.

She was scheduled to be put to death on Wednesday evening, local time. The injections were allowed by the US Supreme Court at the eleventh hour after the legal battle.

Though her legal team remarked these failed to stop her heartbeat and that she could still be heard snoring, pike was given two syringes of the drug pentobarbital. US death row inmate survives execution attempt after two lethal injections.

In practice, the Tennessee Department of Correction defended the method it applied, and stated "the protocol does not allow for additional procedures beyond what was carried out this evening".

Meanwhile, the state protocol does not clearly specify what should happen if an inmate remains alive after a second dose, according to the AP news agency.

Although medical experts have provided theories of their own, authorities have yet to provide their explanation of why the dosage given to Pike proved to be non-fatal.

Dr Joel Zivot, a professor at the Emory University School of Medicine who informed the BBC he had been retained by Pike's legal team as a medical expert, stated she probably never achieved a sufficient blood level of pentobarbital to cause apnoea and cardiovascular failure.

Meanwhile, the state correction department continued that Pike had been taken to an off-site medical facility.

One of her lawyers remarked she was "being provided life-saving measures" in hospital. Her health status is unclear as of Thursday morning.

In his emailed comments to the BBC, Zivot remarked: "It's very possible that as a consequence of the delay of the beginning of resuscitation she will have a brain injury."

Notably, a third-party review has been ordered by the state governor, Bill Lee. This person additionally states the year's last remaining execution will not go ahead as planned.

May Martinez, the mother of Colleen Slemmer who had pushed for Pike's execution to take place, informed NBC News the events had been "a mess". Opponents of the death penalty have similarly been quick to react.

Maya Foa, the chief executive of international legal organisation Reprieve, remarked: "We cannot know exactly what went wrong, because so much happened behind a curtain – lethal injection relies on secrecy at every stage, to hide the violence of the state taking a human life."

Authorities are yet to say whether they will try again to execute Pike. There is a historical precedent of authorities making a second attempt to execute those on death row.

Meanwhile Shipp, Pike's boyfriend and co-defendant, remains in prison, having been spared the death penalty under state law. He was 17 at the time that Slemmer was killed. What is the drug pentobarbital?

Pentobarbital is a potent sedative that slows down the body, including the nervous system. Doctors sometimes employ it as a treatment for certain conditions, but in high doses it can additionally be applied as a lethal injection to cause death.

Its employ in lethal injections came under renewed scrutiny last year after a US federal administration review – which took place under the presidency of Joe Biden – triggered concern regarding the drug's potential for "unnecessary pain and suffering".

His administration banned its apply in federal executions but that did not bind individual states such as Tennessee. It can choose their own methods. Why the death penalty is on the rise in US.

As pharmaceutical firms have resisted the employ of their products for such purposes, over recent years, states have discovered some drugs needed for lethal injections harder to come by.

Notably, the Tennessee Department of Correction has not specifically addressed an allegation from Pike's legal team that the pentobarbital it applied was "degraded". Drugs may degrade for a number of reasons, including if it has aged beyond its use-by date and its potency has declined.

Notably, the department issued a broader defence of its method, writing in an official note: "The lethal injection chemical in the protocol has consistently been effective." Has this happened before?

Meanwhile, the attempted execution of Pike was not the first in Tennessee in 2026 that did not go to plan.

Notably, the execution of Tony Carruthers. This person was convicted of kidnapping and murdering three individuals in 1994, was postponed in May after staff were unable to find a vein to administer a lethal injection. He was given a one-year reprieve by Governor Bill Lee.

More widely throughout the US, the problem of botched executions continues to cause alarm.

In 2022, more than a third of executions in the US were botched or highly problematic, according to the Death Penalty Information Center (DPI) – an organisation that provides statistics and research on the death penalty but does not take a stance on it morally.

In practice, the DPI notes lethal injection has the high­est rate of botched exe­cu­tions.

Notably, an incident in Oklahoma in 2014 gained particular notoriety. The execution of Clayton Lockett was postponed after 20 minutes since the lethal injection of three drugs failed to work properly when one of his veins ruptured, and he went on to writhe and shake uncontrollably.

In the US, 27 of the 50 states have the death penalty under state law. The federal administration can additionally carry out executions after President Donald Trump, a supporter of capital punishment, concluded a moratorium last year, Even so, it is yet to actually carry out any executions since then.

Taken together, the developments around what happened in failed execution of Christa Pike point to a situation that is still moving, and the coming days should bring more clarity.