Tennessee's execution team failed multiple times to set working intravenous (IV) lines in Christa Pike's arms before her attempted execution, her attorney said in a court document filed Thursday. The team also warned that some of her veins may have ruptured, or "blown," before she was injected with pentobarbital, a powerful sedative, the attorney wrote 1.
Attorney Randy Spivey wrote that the IV team went through about 10 needles and tried several sites on both arms. He wrote that they struggled even to push saline through the last IV site they established 1.
What happened on Sept. 30
Pike, 50, survived two doses of pentobarbital when the state tried to execute her on Sept. 30. She was sentenced to death for the 1995 stabbing death of classmate Colleen Slemmer. She was 18 at the time and became one of the youngest women sentenced to death 1.
She was hospitalized and spent several days on a ventilator. At one point her attorneys did not expect her to survive. She later regained consciousness and was returned to prison after being discharged 1.
State protocol calls for a second dose if the first does not cause death. It does not say what to do if a person survives the second injection 1.
Questions about transparency
Earlier reporting said Gov. Bill Lee, a Republican, halted all executions for the rest of the year and ordered a third-party review 2. The same report said the curtain to the witness area was closed to the public and media from about 8:25 to 8:50 p.m. Protocol allows a five-minute check of vital signs 2.
No one knew what was going on behind that curtain
Pike's legal team had said before the execution that she had a blood disorder that made venous access difficult. The sources reviewed for this story did not confirm that claim, so treat it as the defense's account. The new filing adds a detailed description of what her lawyers say happened before the drugs were given 1.
What happens next
The wire report does not say how the court will respond to Thursday's filing. The failed execution has brought renewed scrutiny to how Tennessee carries out death sentences 1. The governor's pause and the planned outside review are the state's main responses so far 2.
That matters because the state carries out these sentences in the name of its residents. When a procedure fails this badly, the public has a stake in knowing what went wrong. Those details should come from a review that is open and independent.
The Record
Sources
- ABC News, “Execution staff warned IV site might have 'blown' during Christa Pike's execution attempt” (2026-10-22). abcnews.com/US/wireStory/execution-staff-warned-iv-site-blow
- KATV, “Christa Pike remains alive in critical condition after failed execution, attorneys say” (2026-10-01). katv.com/news/nation-world/christa-pike-remains-alive-in-cri
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