Christa Pike, a woman sentenced to death in Tennessee (USA), was still alive after receiving two lethal injections, her lawyer said Wednesday night, September 30, when filing a motion to try again to stop her execution. The announcement from her legal team and media witnesses came after the Supreme Court intervened and authorized the state to execute her.

First modification: 01/10/2026 - 02:00Last modification: 02/10/2026 - 04:45

To display this YouTube content, you must allow advertising and audience measurement cookies.

An extension on your browser appears to be blocking the video player from loading. In order to view this content, you must disable it on this site.

Christa Pike, the first woman to receive the death penalty in Tennessee in 200 years, survived the first two doses of the lethal injection that were administered during her execution on the night of Wednesday, September 30, reported Luke Ihnen, deputy federal public defender on her defense team.

The Department of Corrections of the state of Tennessee (USA) assured that she was transferred to a medical facility to receive treatment. According to a statement from Pike's lawyers collected by local media, the woman is receiving treatment in a hospital but her state of health is unknown.

The state prison authority maintained that the protocol established by law for this execution was followed and stated that no "additional procedures" are allowed beyond those carried out during the execution: two rounds of the lethal injection of pentobarbital, which "has been consistently effective."

His legal team, in parallel, sought to stop the procedure through an emergency motion.

According to the motion document, at 8:26 p.m. local time, witnesses said that "the executioners had injected both syringes with the lethal injection chemicals and Pike is still alive and snoring."

The text adds that Pike "has not lost consciousness and still has a heartbeat" and that the curtains of the execution chamber "have been lowered twice."

Witnesses, including journalists, described that the process was longer than expected and lasted from 7:00 p.m. to 8:56 p.m. local time (00:00 and 01:56 GMT).

Read alsoAnother case of mental health?: Tennessee prepares to execute the first woman in more than 200 years

The Supreme Court authorized the execution after a temporary suspension

The execution began following a decision by the U.S. Supreme Court, which authorized the state of Tennessee to proceed with the execution by lethal injection of Christa Pike, 50, sentenced to death for the 1995 murder of fellow student Colleen Slemmer.

Previously, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals had ordered a temporary stay of execution, scheduled for this same September 30, after the US Supreme Court itself rejected Pike's request to stop it on Tuesday, considering it necessary to review the arguments of his defense.

Christa Pike was 18 when she was convicted of the murder of Colleen Slemmer, a 19-year-old fellow member of the Knoxville Job Corps program.

According to prosecutors, Pike lured Slemmer to a secluded area of ​​the University of Tennessee agricultural campus and, along with her boyfriend Tadaryl Shipp and another teenager, tortured and murdered her. Pike did not deny responsibility for the crime, but his lawyers maintain that the circumstances of his childhood, his age and later diagnosed mental disorders should have been considered when determining the sentence.

Read alsoUnited States reintroduces firing squads and lethal injection for federal executions

Pike was sentenced to death in 1996, when she was 20 years old. Shipp, who was 17 at the time of the murder, was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole, because the law did not allow for the death penalty. A third teen who admitted participating as an accomplice received probation.

The victim's family demanded that the sentence be carried out

Slemmer's murder caused a strong shock in Knoxville due to the violence used. Prosecutors maintained that Pike viewed the young woman as a romantic rival. According to the case file, Slemmer was attacked with a box cutter and hit with a piece of asphalt. Shipp later acknowledged that he had carved a pentagram on the victim's body, an element that contributed to the impact of the case during the so-called "Satanic Panic" of the 1980s and 1990s.

The request for clemency presented by Pike's lawyers contrasted with the position of Colleen Slemmer's family, which demanded that the execution be carried out. May Martinez, the victim's mother, said that decades after the murder she still thinks about her daughter daily. Slemmer was 19 when she was murdered and, according to her mother, never had the opportunity to reach adulthood.

"Every time I think about it, I think about Colleen feeling that pain and trying to get up and run," Martinez said.

The woman recalled that her daughter was a volunteer at the Special Olympics, enjoyed skating and wanted to work in IT. He also said that Slemmer had called his family from the Job Corps program the night of the murder, but that communication was interrupted due to poor reception.

Read alsoThe first execution of a woman in Tennessee in two centuries is suspended: what can we expect from the case?

UN and Amnesty International experts called for stopping the execution

In early September, United Nations experts asked the United States and Tennessee authorities to "immediately" halt the execution and commute Pike's sentence. In their appeal they made reference to the abuse suffered during their childhood and the physical and psychological suffering they experienced during their years on death row.

Amnesty International had also launched a campaign to ask Tennessee Governor Bill Lee to intervene and grant a pardon. Lee announced Monday that he would not grant clemency. Pike's lawyers have appealed to the US Supreme Court to try to stay the execution.

Executions suspended in 2026

The governor of the state of Tennessee (USA), Bill Lee, called for a "thorough" investigation into Pike's failed execution and announced a temporary suspension of executions scheduled for 2026.

"Carrying out legally imposed sentences is among the state's most important responsibilities and the people of Tennessee expect it to be done not only legally and constitutionally, but also effectively," Lee reflected in a statement reported by local media.

According to the Death Penalty Information Center, Gary Wayne Sutton was scheduled to be executed in Tennessee on December 3.

With AP and EFE

Related keywords

The content you requested does not exist or is no longer available.