Tennessee’s attempt to execute Christa Pike collapsed into chaos Wednesday evening after Pike, 50, received two doses of pentobarbital but remained alive. Her lawyers and media witnesses said she continued breathing and could be heard “snoring” inside the death chamber.

Pike was strapped to a gurney at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution shortly before 7:30 p.m. CDT. The execution began about an hour after the US Supreme Court overruled a stay that had temporarily blocked the state from proceeding.

Her attorneys wrote, “Ms. Pike has not lost consciousness and still has a heartbeat and is audibly snoring.” After Pike was transported to a nearby hospital, the lawyers said her condition remained unclear.

“We have not been informed as to her condition,” the attorneys said in their Wednesday night update. Officials did not immediately provide further answers about whether the two lethal doses had caused serious injury.

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Witnesses said Pike was speaking in complete sentences as officials prepared to administer the drugs. WKRN reporter Tori Gessner heard Pike say, “My arm feels like it’s about to bust. One spot is really throbbing.”

Associated Press reporter Kim Chandler said Pike described herself as being at peace and spoke about having love for people who hated her. Pike concluded her remarks by saying, “I’m at peace. I’m ready to be free,” and, “This is a happy day.”

About an hour after the first injection, officials administered the second dose at roughly 8:30 p.m. Witnesses were ordered to leave approximately 20 minutes later, though Pike could reportedly be heard breathing throughout the viewing period.

Emergency vehicles arrived outside the prison as witnesses were ushered from the maximum security facility without clear information about Pike’s condition. Tennessee Department of Correction officials, who typically appear at the news conference following an execution, were absent.

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Pike’s legal team filed another emergency motion with the Supreme Court, arguing that she was suffering “unnecessary agony” and had been denied the right to an execution free from “cruel and unusual punishment.” The attorneys claimed officials encountered difficult vein access, blown veins, degraded pentobarbital, and inadequate emergency medical care.

The Tennessee Department of Correction maintained that every step of the state’s lawful execution protocol had been followed. Spokesperson Dorinda Carter said the protocol did not permit additional procedures beyond those performed Wednesday evening and confirmed that Pike had been transported to an off-site medical facility.

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Tennessee’s procedure provides one set of lethal injection drugs and enough pentobarbital to prepare a backup set. After a five-minute waiting period, the second set may be administered if the inmate remains alive, but the protocol does not explain what happens if that dose also fails.

By late Wednesday, Gov. Bill Lee ordered a full independent review and stopped the state’s one remaining execution scheduled before the end of 2026. “Therefore, the remaining scheduled execution will not be carried out this year,” Lee said.

The legal turmoil began earlier Wednesday when the Court of Appeals issued a last-minute stay shortly before Pike’s scheduled 10 a.m. CDT execution. The court cited claims that sexual abuse and rape Pike said she endured as a child were not properly considered during sentencing.

The Tennessee Attorney General’s Office asked the Supreme Court to lift that stay, arguing the delay traumatized Colleen Slemmer’s family and rewarded “abusive delay tactics.” The Supreme Court ruled 6 to 3 that the execution could proceed, with Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson dissenting.

Pike received a death sentence for murdering Slemmer, 19, in January 1995. Prosecutors said Pike believed Slemmer was trying to steal her boyfriend, Tadaryl Shipp, who participated in the attack alongside Pike while Shadolla Peterson acted as a lookout.

Investigators said the attack lasted at least 30 minutes and included beating, cutting, and repeated slashing as Slemmer pleaded for her life. Pike ultimately killed Slemmer with a large piece of asphalt and kept part of her skull as a souvenir.

Pike was sentenced to death in 1996, while Shipp received life in prison because he was a juvenile, and Peterson received probation after testifying against them. The last woman executed in Tennessee was Martin Eve, who was hanged in 1820.

Lee rejected Pike’s clemency request Monday, and the Supreme Court denied another stay request Tuesday. Slemmer’s mother, May Martinez, traveled from Florida for the execution and said, “Not a day goes by, or a minute goes by that I do not think about Colleen.”

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