Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee has halted the state’s remaining executions for 2026 after officials were unable to carry out the execution of death row inmate Christa Gail Pike.
According to reports, Pike survived after receiving two doses of the lethal injection drug pentobarbital and was later transported to a hospital.
Pike, 50, was scheduled to be executed for the 1995 murder of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer.
State officials said they followed Tennessee’s established execution protocol, while Pike’s attorneys argued the failed execution amounted to cruel and unusual punishment.
