Friday, October 2, 2026 | Panah Press

Christa Gail Pike, a 50-year-old woman sentenced to death in the U.S. state of Tennessee, remains alive after receiving two injections of pentobarbital and is currently under medical care in a hospital.

Her execution was scheduled for Wednesday evening, September 30, at the maximum-security Riverbend prison in Nashville. Media witnesses and Pike’s attorneys said that even after the second dose was administered, she was still breathing and her heart was beating.

Her attorneys said Thursday that their client’s condition was critical and that she was receiving life-sustaining treatment. According to them, there is still no detailed information available about her medical condition and the consequences of the incident.

The Tennessee Department of Correction said the execution procedure was carried out in accordance with official protocol and that, after the execution failed, Pike was transferred to a medical facility outside the prison for treatment.

Tennessee Governor Bill Lee ordered an independent review of the incident and suspended the execution of other death sentences in the state until the end of the year.

Pike was sentenced to death in 1996 for the murder of Colleen Slemmer, a 19-year-old woman. The murder occurred in 1995, when Pike was 18. According to court records, she and her then-boyfriend, Tadaryl Shipp, were involved in the killing.

If carried out, Pike’s execution would have made her the first woman executed in Tennessee in more than 200 years. Before the execution, legal appeals were filed seeking to stop it, but the U.S. Supreme Court ultimately allowed the execution to proceed.

This was the second unsuccessful attempt to carry out a death sentence in Tennessee in 2026. In May, the execution of Tony Caruthers was also halted after officials were unable to find a suitable vein to administer the drugs.

According to the Death Penalty Information Center, 18 women have been executed in the United States since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976.

Sources: The Associated Press, Reuters, Tennessee Department of Correction, Death Penalty Information Center

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