Failed Execution Attempt of Christa Pike. What happened and what's next?

Authorities in Tennessee failed to carry out the death sentence of Christa Pike, who was convicted of murder. She remained alive after two lethal injections and is now in critical condition in hospital. Tennessee Governor Bill Lee has ordered an independent review and suspended executions in Tennessee until the end of the year. What went wrong, the BBC found out.

Pike, now 50, was sentenced to death in 1996 for the murder of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer, committed a year earlier.

Pike's execution in Tennessee was scheduled for Wednesday evening local time. The U.S. Supreme Court allowed lethal injections to be used at the very last moment.

Pike was administered two doses of pentobarbital, but according to her lawyers, it did not stop her heart rate, and she was heard snoring.

According to the Associated Press, the state protocol does not clearly specify what to do if a prisoner remains alive after a second dose is administered.

What's next?

The Tennessee Department of Correction defended the method used, stating that "the protocol does not provide for any additional procedures beyond those that were executed."

Authorities have not yet announced whether they will make another attempt to carry out Pike's death sentence. They also did not explain why the dose of the drug administered to her was not lethal.

Opponents of the death penalty say it is difficult to understand exactly what went wrong, as part of the procedure took place behind a screen.

Maya Foa, director of the international human rights organization Reprieve, noted: "The use of lethal injection at every stage is shrouded in secrecy, designed to conceal the brutality of state actions that deprive a person of life."

The Tennessee Department of Correction reported that Pike was transported to a medical facility outside the prison, and one of her lawyers stated on Wednesday that doctors at the hospital were trying to save her life.

On Thursday, lawyer Randy Spivey told reporters: "We do not yet have information about the doctors' prognoses or any detailed information about her health condition."

Dr. Joel Zivot, a professor at Emory University School of Medicine, stated: "It is entirely probable that due to the delay in initiating resuscitation efforts, she [Pike] will sustain brain damage."

According to John Mills, a lawyer who works with death row inmates, the U.S. Supreme Court has not previously prevented repeated attempts to carry out a death sentence.

In 2024, the court allowed the state of Alabama to conduct a repeat execution of Kenneth Eugene Smith using the experimental method of nitrogen hypoxia (which causes oxygen deprivation) after an attempt to execute him by lethal injection had failed two years earlier.

In 1947, a Supreme Court decision allowed Louisiana authorities to send teenager Willie Francis to the electric chair again; the first attempt at his execution, undertaken when he was 17, was unsuccessful. The court ruled that the repeat execution did not violate constitutional prohibitions against double jeopardy or cruel and unusual punishments; Francis was subsequently executed at the age of 18.

What is pentobarbital?

Pentobarbital is a powerful sedative that slows down bodily processes, including the nervous system. Doctors sometimes use it to treat certain conditions, but in high doses, it can be used as a drug for lethal injection.

A review conducted by the U.S. federal government under the Biden administration raised concerns that this drug could cause "unnecessary pain and suffering," which raises questions about its use for lethal injections.

The Biden administration has banned the use of pentobarbital in federal executions, but this decision is not binding on individual states—such as Tennessee—which have the right to choose their own methods of carrying out the death penalty.

In recent years, it has become more difficult for state authorities to obtain some drugs necessary for executions, as pharmaceutical companies oppose the use of their products for such purposes.

The Tennessee Department of Correction did not provide a specific answer to Pike's lawyers' assertion that the pentobarbital used was "degraded," meaning it had lost its properties.

The agency's statement noted that the drug for lethal injection "has consistently demonstrated effectiveness."

Who is Colleen Slemmer?

Colleen Slemmer's killers, Christa Pike and Tadaryl Shipp, met at a vocational training camp for "troubled" teenagers. Pike accused Colleen of insulting her and trying to steal her boyfriend, Shipp.

An inverted pentagram—a symbol associated with Satanic groups—was found on Colleen's chest.

Two other camp residents later testified that Pike boasted about the murder and showed them a fragment of Colleen's skull.

Shipp was 17 at the time of the murder, Pike was 18. Shipp was sentenced to life imprisonment with the possibility of parole and remains in prison. He managed to avoid the death penalty because he had not yet reached adulthood at that time.

Colleen's mother, May Martinez, told People that she and her husband Raul drove 11 hours from Florida to attend Pike's execution.

"I wanted her [Pike] to remember who Colleen was and what they did to her, and never forget it, wherever she is," she said.

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