Christa Pike, botched execution after two doses of lethal injection administered in Tennessee

Tennessee authorities failed to execute Christa Gail Pike on Wednesday after administering two doses of pentobarbital. The 50-year-old condemned prisoner remained alive and was transported by prison ambulance, according to her attorneys.

The execution attempt was carried out for a crime committed in 1995, when Pike was 18 years old. She was set to become the first woman executed in Tennessee in more than 200 years. Attorneys said that, after the second dose was administered, witnesses heard her snoring, and the microphone in the execution chamber was later turned off.

The procedure had already been challenged in court. Approximately one hour before the execution was due to begin, an appeals court had stayed the administration of the lethal injection, but the United States Supreme Court later overturned the stay.

Robin M. Maher, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center, described the situation as “unique and unprecedented.” According to her, other people have survived medical problems during executions, but no one has remained alive after the administration of lethal substances. Pike’s attorneys filed new motions, arguing that the woman had been subjected to unnecessary agony and cruel and unusual treatment.