Executions in Tennessee have been halted for the rest of the year, Governor Bill Lee has said, after two attempts to execute death row inmate Christa Pike by lethal injection failed.
In a statement to CBS News, Lee said lawful executions were among the state’s most serious responsibilities, adding that he has ordered a third‑party review to determine exactly what occurred.
Tennessee prison officials on Wednesday tried to give Pike two lethal doses of pentobarbital, but she survived and was taken to hospital. Her medical condition is unclear.
Pike, 50, was sentenced to death in 1996 for the murder of Colleen Slemmer, a 19‑year‑old student who was beaten, tortured and killed by Pike and her then‑boyfriend, Tadaryl Shipp, when she was 18.
She would have been the first woman executed in Tennessee in more than two hundred years.
Speaking at a ribbon‑cutting ceremony on Thursday morning, Lee said, I am highly disappointed, along with Tennesseans, about what happened last night.
Lee has not said who will conduct the independent review of the state’s execution procedures.
His order to pause all executions will overlap with the planned December 3 execution of convicted murderer Gary Sutton.
Pike’s lawyers filed court paperwork saying she needed life‑saving measures after her botched execution.
The Tennessee Department of Correction, which handled the execution, issued a statement defending its handling of the case. “The Department followed every step of the State’s lawful, established execution protocol approved by the attorney general’s office,” the statement said. “The lethal injection chemical in the protocol has consistently been effective, and the protocol does not allow for additional procedures beyond what was carried out this evening.”
This is the second time in 2026 Tennessee officials attempted and failed to execute a prisoner. In May, the execution of Tony Carruthers was called off after staff could not find a vein to administer a lethal drug, and he was given a one‑year reprieve.
