By J. Holly McCall | Editor-in-Chief
Good morning, Lookout readers:
Once again, the Tennessee Department of Correction has botched the execution of a death row inmate.
Christa Pike, 50, convicted of the 1995 murder of classmate Colleen Slemmer, was scheduled on Wednesday to be the first woman executed by the state of Tennessee since 1820.
But the day was a mess from the get-go. A three-judge panel of the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals granted Pike a stay of execution about an hour before the 10 a.m. scheduled time of execution, agreeing with Pike’s attorneys her childhood history of sexual abuse and trauma bore further examination.
Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti appealed the ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court, a majority of whose members overruled the lower court, affirming that Tennessee could kill Pike Wednesday night.
As Cassandra Stephenson reports, the failed execution took more than two hours during which Pike was administered two rounds of lethal injection drugs, kicked, spasmed and made noises, according to media witnesses. Finally, after an anti-death penalty group filed an emergency appeal, emergency vehicles converged on Riverbend Maximum Security Prison in Nashville and transported Pike to an undisclosed location for medical care.
At the time of this writing, her exact medical status is unknown.
The Tennessee Department of Correction, which sent a tone-deaf statement saying “the lethal injection chemical in the protocol has consistently been effective,” owes answers to Tennesseans. In May, Gov. Bill Lee, no soft touch on capital punishment, granted a one-year reprieve to Tony Von Carruthers after a fouled-up and failed execution process witnesses described as bloody “torture.”
THE LOOKOUT’S TOP STORY
Emergency vehicles at Riverbend Maximum Security Prison in Nashville on Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2026. The execution of death row inmate Christ Pike was halted nearly two hours after the State of Tennessee began the lethal injection protocol/ (Photo: John Partipilo/Tennessee Lookout)
by Cassandra Stephenson
The Wednesday execution of Tennessee death row inmate Christa Pike was halted after the State of Tennessee administered two failed rounds of its lethal injection protocol and an anti-death penalty group filed an emergency appeal to end the execution and get Pike medical care.
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