Killer Christa Pike who 'survived' two lethal injections was 'fully alive and snoring', tell me about this news in (https://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/latest-news/breaking-killer-christa-pike-who-37722071)

On September 30, 2026, Tennessee attempted to execute 50-year-old death row inmate Christa Pike by lethal injection at the Riverbend Maximum Security Institution. Set to be the state’s first execution of a woman in nearly two centuries, the procedure resulted in an unprecedented failure when two separate doses of lethal pentobarbital failed to end her life.

The Guardian+ 1

During the execution, Pike remained awake after the initial injection, at one point lifting her head to ask prison staff whether her arm was supposed to feel that way. By approximately 8:26 p.m., a second full dose of pentobarbital was administered. Despite the double dosage, media witnesses and her defense attorneys reported that behind the execution chamber curtain, Pike lost consciousness, still retained a heartbeat, and was audibly snoring and gasping.

Daily Star+ 2

The audio feed was abruptly cut off shortly before 9:00 p.m., media witnesses were escorted out, and the execution was halted. Her defense attorneys filed emergency legal motions seeking immediate medical intervention, citing severe vein access complications and the lack of state protocol for surviving multiple doses. Pike was subsequently transferred to an off-site hospital facility while undergoing life-saving medical care.

Daily Star+ 2

Following the botched procedure, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee suspended all remaining executions scheduled in the state for the rest of 2026 and initiated an independent investigation into the state’s execution protocols and chemical efficacy.

The Economic Times

Pike was originally sentenced to death in 1996 for the 1995 murder of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer in Knoxville, an attack committed when Pike was 18 alongside her then-boyfriend Tadaryl Shipp.

The Economic Times