Tennessee Execution
Associated Press reporter Kimberly Chandler recounts the moments before the execution of Christa Pike was halted at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution, Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2026, in Nashville, Tenn.
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Christa Pike is still alive a day after she survived Tennessee's failed attempt to execute her for the 1995 murder of a woman. Her lawyer says Pike is receiving treatment at a hospital Thursday. The state tried to execute her by lethal injection on Wednesday but neither the initial nor backup dose of pentobarbital killed her. Pike was still snoring when the execution chamber’s microphone was cut off more than an hour into the attempt, and she was later taken to a hospital for treatment. Afterward, Gov. Bill Lee indefinitely postponed Pike’s execution and Tennessee’s lone remaining one that had been scheduled for this year and ordered a review of what happened, calling it “deeply disturbing.”
