Christa Pike Survived Her Execution. Now What?

On the evening of what was supposed to be her execution, Christa Pike was led into a Tennessee death chamber, given two doses of pentobarbital by IV, and remained alive. She was taken to a hospital, where doctors initially believed she was brain dead and began preparing to remove her from a ventilator. Then she woke up. According to her attorneys, her first words were "Where am I?" and "Who are you?" She had tubes down her throat, a blood clot in one arm, pneumonia, and a needle that had bent at a 90-degree angle inside her vein. She had not yet been able to swallow or eat. Her lawyers described her as "angry and confused about everything right now."

This was the second botched execution in Tennessee this year, and Governor Bill Lee has halted all executions in the state for the rest of the year pending an independent investigation. But the legal question is unprecedented: if someone survives the state's attempt to kill them, can the state try again?

The Execution That Didn't End

Pike has been on death row for nearly 30 years for the torture and murder of a fellow student. On execution night, medical staff attempted to gain IV access approximately seven times before administering two doses of pentobarbital. The drugs did not stop her breathing. She was eventually taken to a local hospital for life-saving care.