Christa Pike remains unconscious and on a ventilator after Tennessee's attempt to execute her by lethal injection failed, according to her attorneys.
The 50 year old was scheduled to be executed Wednesday at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville for the 1995 murder of 19 year old Colleen Slemmer.
Instead, Pike survived after receiving two doses of pentobarbital and was eventually transported by ambulance to a hospital.
Reuters reports that her lawyers said Friday she remained in critical condition and was receiving mechanical ventilation.
What happened during the execution?
The execution began Wednesday evening, but witnesses described problems establishing intravenous access.
The Associated Press reports that Pike remained alive after the lethal injection drugs were administered. Witnesses heard her breathing for an extended period, and she complained about pain in her arm during the procedure.
After it became clear that the execution had failed, Pike was removed from the prison and taken to a Nashville hospital.
Her lawyers say hospital staff have been working to remove pentobarbital from her system.
Lawyers describe serious injuries
Pike's attorneys say she suffered significant injuries to both arms.
Reuters reports that the legal team believes the intravenous lines were improperly positioned, potentially causing the execution drug to enter surrounding tissue rather than properly reaching her bloodstream.
Her attorneys have now asked a Tennessee court to order officials to preserve evidence connected to the execution attempt.
The request covers materials that could help determine exactly what happened inside the execution chamber and whether the state's protocol was correctly followed.
Tennessee's Department of Correction has maintained that established procedures were followed.
Governor halts executions
The failed execution has triggered an immediate response from Tennessee Governor Bill Lee.
Lee ordered the state's remaining execution scheduled for 2026 to be postponed and announced an independent investigation.
The governor described what happened as deeply disturbing.
Reuters reports that this was Tennessee's second failed execution attempt this year, increasing scrutiny of the state's lethal injection procedures.
Who is Christa Pike?
Pike was convicted for the 1995 murder of Colleen Slemmer, a fellow student in Knoxville.
She was 18 at the time of the crime and was sentenced to death the following year.
Pike became the only woman on Tennessee's death row and had been scheduled to become the first woman executed by the state in more than 200 years.
Slemmer's mother attended Wednesday's execution attempt.
ABC News reports that she later described the experience as deeply distressing and said the failed procedure had denied her family the closure they had expected after more than three decades.
What happens next?
Pike's immediate medical condition remains the central concern.
Her attorneys said Friday that she was critically ill, unconscious and dependent on a ventilator.
There are also major legal questions about whether Tennessee could attempt to execute her again if she survives.
For now, further executions in Tennessee have been halted while investigators examine how two doses of a lethal injection drug failed to complete Pike's execution.
The findings could have consequences far beyond this individual case as scrutiny grows over lethal injection procedures and the future of capital punishment in Tennessee.
