Tennessee halts executions after failed attempt to execute Christa Pike
Governor Bill Lee has paused executions for the rest of 2026 and ordered a third-party review after two doses of pentobarbital failed to kill Pike.
Tennessee Governor Bill Lee has halted executions in the state for the rest of 2026 after officials failed twice to execute death row inmate Christa Pike by lethal injection. Pike was taken to hospital after receiving two doses of pentobarbital; her medical condition is unknown.
Lee ordered a third-party review to establish what happened. He has not identified who will conduct it. The pause overlaps with the execution of Gary Sutton, scheduled for 3 December.
The Tennessee Department of Correction said staff followed each step of the state’s approved execution protocol. The department also said the protocol did not permit additional procedures beyond those carried out. No independent findings have been reported.
Pike, 50, was sentenced to death in 1996 for the 1995 murder of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer, when Pike was 18.
The episode is Tennessee’s second failed execution attempt in 2026. In May, officials called off Tony Carruthers’s execution after they could not find a vein to administer the lethal drug; Carruthers received a one-year reprieve.
