Christa Pike is 50 years old and had been waiting for this day for more than half her life.
On September 30, Tennessee attempted to execute her by lethal injection at Riverbend maximum-security prison in Nashville. She was given two doses of pentobarbital. Even so, she did not die. She was rushed to Vanderbilt Hospital, where she was unconscious, intubated and on a ventilator.
Six days later, her lawyers sent a statement no one expected: “Against all odds, Christa Pike is conscious, speaking and continues to receive critical medical care”. According to them, her recovery is “medically unprecedented”. They also say her arms are burned and blistered, and that she remains handcuffed to the bed.
Pike was sentenced to death at 18 for the 1995 murder of her fellow student Colleen Slemmer. The defense says she is the only known person to have survived a complete execution attempt in the United States. The Department of Correction maintains that it followed protocol. The governor suspended the remaining executions scheduled for 2026 and ordered an independent review.
What does the system do with someone it could not execute?