Christa Pike on Ventilator After Botched Tennessee Execution

Christa Pike remained unconscious, intubated and on a ventilator in a Nashville-area hospital two days after Tennessee’s failed attempt to execute her, her attorneys said in a court filing on Friday. The lawyers said hospital staff were working to save the 50-year-old’s life and clear the pentobarbital administered during the botched Christa Pike execution attempt from her system.

Key facts

• Who: Christa Pike, 50, Tennessee’s only woman on death row.
• What: Attorneys say Pike is critically ill, unconscious, intubated and receiving breathing assistance through a ventilator after the failed execution.
• When: The execution attempt took place Wednesday evening, Sept. 30, 2026; the update was filed Friday, Oct. 2, 2026.
• Where: Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville; Pike was then taken to a Nashville-area hospital.
• Drug: Two doses of pentobarbital were administered, according to the attorneys and the Associated Press.
• Legal move: Pike’s lawyers filed an emergency motion asking a Nashville judge to order the Tennessee Department of Correction to preserve evidence from the failed attempt.

Christa Pike execution: what the court filing says

According to the filing described by the Associated Press, Pike’s attorneys said the state’s IV team used at least seven needles during the procedure. They said one needle was bent at a 90-degree angle when removed, and that Pike could be heard crying, whimpering and breathing loudly during the attempt.

The attorneys also said both of Pike’s arms were swollen, burned and blistered when she arrived at the hospital. They cited experts as saying pentobarbital is caustic and highly alkaline and can burn skin, tissue and veins if it leaks outside the veins.

Attorneys allege the IV lines failed

Pike’s lawyers wrote that they believed the IV lines were not correctly placed and that the veins had blown, so the pentobarbital entered her body tissue rather than her bloodstream. They alleged that, instead of correcting the problem, the execution team prepared and administered a backup set of pentobarbital syringes.

The filing also says Pike and her lawyers had previously told the state that she had a blood condition and a history of difficult IV access. For more U.S. coverage, see Watan News America.

Background

Pike was convicted in the 1995 torture and killing of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer. Media witnesses to Wednesday’s attempt said Pike was still alive and could be heard snoring after the viewing curtain closed; she was then transported by ambulance to a hospital. The Associated Press account of Friday’s filing is available here.