What happened
BREAKING NEWS FROM TENNESSEE: An attempt to execute Christa Pike by lethal injection was unsuccessful Wednesday night, according to media witnesses and an emergency court filing by her attorneys. This report covers what witnesses, the courts and officials have said so far, and what remains unexplained.
Pike, 50, was scheduled to become the first woman executed in Tennessee in at least 200 years.
Witnesses reported that officials appeared to administer two doses of pentobarbital. More than 40 minutes after the last reported dose, Pike could still be heard snoring.
Her attorneys said in an emergency motion that she remained conscious and had a heartbeat, and also sought lifesaving medical care.
The curtain separating witnesses from the execution chamber was lowered twice. At about 8:53 p.m. Central Time, media witnesses were told to leave. A Tennessee Department of Correction spokesperson could not immediately explain what had happened.
The attempt followed a day of legal proceedings. The execution was scheduled for 10 a.m. at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville. The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals temporarily paused it to examine claims about her original defense. Later Wednesday, the U.S. Supreme Court lifted that stay. Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson dissented.
Pike was convicted of murdering 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer in January 1995. Both were students at a Job Corps training center in Knoxville. Pike was 18 and was sentenced to death in 1996. Her boyfriend, Tadaryl Shipp (then 17), received a life sentence; Shadolla Peterson received probation after testifying against Pike.
Pike's attorneys argued her original defense failed to present evidence of severe childhood abuse and mental illness, citing post-traumatic stress disorder and bipolar disorder. United Nations experts and other clemency supporters urged Gov. Bill Lee to commute her sentence. Lee denied the request.
Pike has acknowledged killing Slemmer and expressed remorse. Slemmer's mother, May Martinez, has supported carrying out the sentence.
As of the latest available reporting, the execution had not been completed, and state officials had not publicly explained what went wrong.
Every statement is attributed to the cited reporting. Visuals marked “file photo” or “illustrative” do not depict the events described unless stated.