Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee has halted the one remaining execution that had been scheduled for later this year following Wednesday’s failed attempt to execute Christa Pike.
The governor is also calling for a comprehensive, third-party review to figure out exactly what led to this failed execution. In a statement to the Associated Press, Lee said “Carrying out a lawfully imposed sentence is among the State’s most serious responsibilities, and the people of Tennessee expect it to be done in a manner that is not only legal and constitutional, but is effective.”
Lee will meet with members of the press Thursday morning. WPLN News will have a reporter there and update this story with new information as it become available.
Another failed lethal injection
Pike survived two doses of the lethal injection drug pentobarbital. Media witnesses said she was still heard breathing and snoring when they were removed from the viewing area. Pike was transported to a hospital, but her attorneys said Wednesday night they had not been told about her condition.
Tennessee unable to carry out the execution by lethal injection of Christa Gail Pike, witnesses say
Late Wednesday night, the Tennessee Department of Correction issued a statement saying it “followed every step of the State’s lawful, established execution protocol approved by the Attorney General’s Office.” That protocol allows corrections officials to administer a second dose of the drug if a person is not deceased after the first dose. However, it does not contemplate what should happen if a second dose does not kill the prisoner.
Robin Maher, the executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center, called Pike’s case “singular and unparalleled.” She told the Associated Press that there are seven cases in which people have survived after the execution team failed to access a vein to administer a lethal injection. However, she said nobody has stayed alive after receiving the drugs.
This is the second botched execution in Tennessee this year. In May, the state failed to put Tony Carruthers to death after officials were unable to establish a necessary IV line. Lee gave Carruthers a one-year reprieve after that incident, but declined to issue a moratorium or change the lethal injection protocol in the aftermath.
The state moved forward with the execution of Anthony Darrell Hines in August, despite outcry from healthcare workers and calls from GOP lawmakers to investigate what went wrong with Carruthers’ execution.
Another review
This also isn’t the first time Tennessee has had to review how it administers capital punishment. Its unclear if the investigation ordered by Lee will focus solely on Pike’s execution or the state’s lethal injection protocol as a whole. However, there is precedent for the latter.
Most recently in 2022, Lee paused all executions in the state after finding that the cocktail of three drugs used to kill death row inmates had not gone through all the proper inspections. Further review found that the drugs had been mismanaged and had not been tested for contaminants for years. That discovery prompted a years-long review of Tennessee’s lethal injection protocol, and eventually a change to which drug is used to stop a prisoner’s heart.
When executions resumed in 2025, the state switched to a single drug: pentobarbital. The sedative is difficult for governments to source. WPLN News has previously reported that secrecy laws and legal gray areas in procurement make it extremely difficult to know where the drug has come from.
You can find a full timeline of Tennessee’s lethal injection history here.
This is a developing story that will be updated.
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