Tennessee fails to execute Christa Pike after two lethal injections

Christa Pike, the sole woman on Tennessee's death row, remained alive after two lethal injections were administered during her attempted execution Wednesday night, according to her lawyers. Witnesses reported that by 8:26 p.m. local time, executioners had administered both syringes, but Pike was still conscious, snoring, and complaining of pain.

Pike's legal team filed a motion in federal court stating she had not lost consciousness and still had a heartbeat. Journalists present described Pike kicking her feet and at times, the curtains to the death chamber were closed. An ambulance was seen arriving at and then departing the prison, with medical aid reportedly being administered.

Pike, 50, was convicted in 1995 of murdering a classmate when she was 18. Her lawyers had argued that her history of severe sexual and physical abuse, not presented to the jury at her sentencing, should be considered. The state has not denied Pike's history of abuse, but argued that a judge had previously concluded it was speculative whether she would suffer greater mental harm from the lethal injection protocol.

The Supreme Court had intervened to allow the execution to proceed after a flurry of last-minute legal challenges. The court vacated a lower court's order that had temporarily blocked the execution, with three liberal justices dissenting. The state attorney general's office had argued that the execution needed to proceed to avoid rewarding "abusive delay tactics."