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Tennessee death row inmate Christa Pike remained in critical condition Thursday after a failed execution attempt left her severely injured and raised serious questions about how the procedure was conducted. Pike, 50, survived two rounds of lethal injection drugs on Wednesday evening at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville. Nearly 24 hours after the execution began, her lawyers confirmed she was still alive and receiving medical care, though her prognosis remained unclear.
What Happened Inside the Execution Chamber
The curtain to the execution chamber opened at 7:26 p.m. on Wednesday. Shortly after, media witnesses heard Pike complain that her arm felt “like it’s about to burst open.” She also moaned that one spot was “really throbbing.” At one point, she kicked so forcefully that she knocked off a sheet placed over her body.
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After both doses of the sedative pentobarbital were administered, witnesses said Pike continued to moan, make snoring sounds, and move. Five minutes after the second dose, her attorney Randall Spivey said it was clear she was still breathing. Spivey, who witnessed the attempt, said he counted at least seven needles used in Pike’s left arm alone. One of those needles appeared bent when removed from her arm after an unsuccessful attempt. Her right arm also turned purple following the second drug dose, and her lawyers later learned of blistering and burning around the injection sites.
An ambulance arrived at the prison at 8:50 p.m. Medical care began there. Spivey said he did not observe any lifesaving measures while he was present, though witnesses were led out of the chamber before the situation fully resolved. “Last night was not just inefficient; it was cruel and it was torturous,” Spivey said.
Medical Experts Point to Injection Failures
Medical professionals who spoke with NBC News said Pike’s injuries were consistent with the drug failing to enter her bloodstream directly. Instead, the drug may have leaked into surrounding tissue due to incorrect needle placement. Dr. Jonathan Groner, an emeritus professor of clinical surgery at the Ohio State University College of Medicine, explained that this would mean less of the drug reached her circulatory system. As a result, she would have remained conscious and responsive rather than falling into a deep coma before death.
Groner also noted that burning around an injection site can indicate the drug did not properly enter a vein. “I’ve seen partial-thickness burns look red or purple,” he said. Attorney Stephen Ferrell said medical experts on Pike’s legal team believed the intravenous line may have infiltrated — a condition where a misplaced needle deposits medication into tissue rather than the bloodstream. That explanation, he said, aligns with Pike’s complaints during the procedure that her arm was hurting and felt “about to explode.”
Spivey noted that Pike had a history of difficult veins throughout her life, including problems with routine blood draws. Her lawyers said this was a key reason she had requested a different method of execution. “It was not a fear of dying,” Ferrell said. “It was a fear of a prolonged, painful, traumatic death, and that’s what happened minus the death.”
Governor Orders Investigation, Execution Stayed
Tennessee Governor Bill Lee stayed Pike’s execution on Thursday pending a third-party investigation into what went wrong. At a news conference, Lee acknowledged the severity of the situation. “This is a tragedy. There is no one that wanted what happened last night to happen. It shouldn’t have happened,” he said. He declined to share details about Pike’s condition but confirmed he would hire a team to examine the circumstances surrounding the failed execution.
Spivey said he had been given an emergency number for the Tennessee Supreme Court to call if something went wrong during the execution. However, when he called it, the line went to voicemail. Pike’s attorneys have since filed an appeal. Spivey also addressed Lee directly in his public comments. “I do hope he cares, because this is something that was done in all of our names,” he said.
This was the second execution failure in Tennessee in 2025. Earlier in the year, authorities granted convicted killer Tony Carruthers a one-year reprieve after execution staff could not find a suitable vein for a backup intravenous line in May. Carruthers had been convicted in three 1994 killings.
Background on Pike’s Case
Pike’s conviction dates back to a 1995 murder case in Knoxville, Tennessee. Prosecutors said Pike and two teenage accomplices tortured, slashed, and fatally beat Colleen Slemmer. Pike was convicted of Slemmer’s murder and sentenced to death. She had spent decades on death row. She was 18 years old at the time of the crime.
Multiple last-minute legal efforts to stop the execution failed. Pike had been set to become the first woman Tennessee executed in more than 200 years. Her lawyers said many questions remain unanswered. Will she remember what happened? Did she experience pain throughout the process? Will there be long-term physical damage? “We may never know what all she was suffering through,” Ferrell said, “either because she can’t remember it, she can’t tell it, or it overwhelms her in such a way that pain and suffering affects people that way.”
