Tennessee's Failed Execution of Christa Pike: Death Row Inmate Survives Two Doses of Lethal Injection.

In an unprecedented failure, Tennessee's attempt to execute Christa Pike ended with the 50 year old death row inmate still alive after receiving two doses of the lethal drug pentobarbital. The Wednesday evening execution was meant to be the state's first execution of a woman in more than 200 years. Instead, it became a case that death penalty experts are calling "singular and unparalleled."

Pike was convicted of the 1995 murder of 19 year old Colleen Slemmer, a fellow student at a Knoxville job training facility. Pike was only 18 at the time of the crime, which drew national attention because a pentagram was carved into the victim's body. Her boyfriend, who was 17, received life in prison. Pike was the only one sentenced to death.

The execution was scheduled for 10 a.m. but was delayed when the 6th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals issued a stay to consider whether Pike's allegations of childhood sexual abuse were fully weighed at her sentencing. The U.S. Supreme Court later overturned that stay, allowing the procedure to proceed. Justice Sonia Sotomayor dissented, writing that Pike's claims deserved closer examination.

After receiving the first dose of pentobarbital, Pike did not die. Officials administered a second dose, yet she remained alive. Her attorneys said she was loudly snoring and was taken by ambulance to a hospital. Media witnesses reported that Pike raised her head at one point and asked whether her arm was supposed to feel a certain way. The microphone was cut off at 8:53 p.m. while she was still audibly snoring.

Governor Bill Lee halted all executions for the rest of the year and ordered a comprehensive third party review. "Carrying out a lawfully imposed sentence is among the State's most serious responsibilities," he said, adding that it must be done effectively. The Tennessee Department of Correction insisted it followed the state's approved protocol, which calls for a second set of syringes if the inmate is not deceased but does not say what to do if the inmate survives both doses.

Pike's lawyers filed an emergency motion with the Supreme Court, arguing she was in "unnecessary agony" and that the state was violating her right to be free from cruel and unusual punishment. They also demanded lifesaving care, calling the failure to provide it "deliberate indifference."

This is the second failed execution in Tennessee this year. In May, the state called off Tony Carruthers' lethal injection after executioners could not establish an IV for over an hour. Since the Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976, only 18 women have been executed in the U.S. about 1% of all executions.

Slemmer's mother, May Martinez, had waited decades for the sentence to be carried out. "Not a day goes by, or a minute goes by that I do not think about Colleen," she said. Pike's supporters argue the state should consider her age at the time, her mental illness, and her abuse allegations. "I was a mentally ill 18 year old kid," Pike said in a statement. "It sickens me now to think I had the ability to commit such a crime."

As Pike remains alive in hospital care, Tennessee's execution protocol is under intense scrutiny, and the nation waits for answers about how this could happen.