TENNESSEE WOMAN SURVIVES TWO ROUNDS OF LETHAL INJECTIONS

By Megan Divers

WUSA News9

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Media witnesses described an unusual scene that took place largely behind closed curtains as Tennessee officials were unable to carry out the execution of Christina Pike on Wednesday.

Pike's attorneys said she remained alive after two rounds of lethal injection.
The lethal injection stretched for more than an hour, and witnesses left the room not knowing whether she was alive or dead.

Pike, 50, was scheduled to become the first woman executed in Tennessee in at least 200 years. She was sentenced to death for the 1995 killing of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer, which Pike committed when she was 18. The U.S. Supreme Court cleared the way for the execution by overturning an appeals court ruling that had halted it about an hour before it was set to begin.

TIMELINE OF BOTCHED EXECUTION:

* About 7:30 p.m.: The first round of pentobarbital was administered, according to WBIR Senior Investigative Journalist John North, who witnessed the event. A few minutes later, Pike turned to her spiritual adviser and asked whether the injection had started.
Shortly afterward: The blinds were lowered. Witnesses said they could hear activity in the chamber but could not see what was happening.

* 7:46 p.m.: Prison officials closed the curtain to the media room, according to The Associated Press. They raised it again three minutes later, and Pike could be heard loudly snoring.

* About 8:05 p.m.: The curtain was closed a second time. Witnesses said they could hear breathing that was at times shallow, along with loud snoring.

* 8:26 p.m.: Pike's attorneys filed an emergency motion, which the Tennessee Supreme Court received at this time. It said Pike was still alive after receiving both syringes of chemicals. The attorneys argued she was suffering unnecessarily, in violation of the ban on cruel and unusual punishment. They asked the court to order the Tennessee Department of Correction to remove her IV catheters and take immediate lifesaving measures. 

Emergency vehicles arrive at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution after the execution of Christa Pike was halted, Sept. 30, 2026, in Nashville.

The AP reported that lawyers also filed motions with the U.S. Supreme Court, the Sixth Circuit and a federal district court. They wrote that failing to provide such care "constitutes deliberate indifference to legitimate, serious medical needs."

* About 8:53 p.m.: Witnesses were told to leave. The AP reported that the microphone was cut off at that time. Witnesses said Pike's breathing was rhythmic by the time they left.

* About 9 p.m.: At a news conference, media witnesses said they did not know if Pike was alive or dead. Ambulances and other emergency vehicles were seen coming and going from the prison.