Republican Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee has put a stop to executions for the rest of the year after state officials failed to carry out the lethal injection of convicted killer Christa Gail Pike on Wednesday.
Officials administered two separate doses of the lethal injection, but neither succeeded. Pike survived both execution attempts and was even heard snoring before she was taken to the hospital for treatment.
The 50-year-old was scheduled to be executed for the brutal torture and murder of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer.
Pike was just 18 years old when she, her boyfriend Tadaryl Shipp and her friend Shadolla Peterson lured Slemmer into an isolated wooded area. There, the group restrained and mutilated the young woman.
Slemmer was repeatedly beaten and kicked. Her attackers even carved a pentagram into her body.
In a chilling detail from the case, Pike later brought a piece of Slemmer’s skull to her school and showed it off to her classmates.
Pike had originally asked to be put to death by an all-female firing squad. Instead, she was ordered to die by lethal injection.
The botched procedure is raising fresh questions about the state’s execution process. Dr. Mark Fowler, who oversaw Pike’s execution, had previously been involved in the failed execution of Tony Carruthers in May 2026.
Following Wednesday’s failed attempt, Lee announced he had ordered a “comprehensive, third-party review to determine exactly what occurred.”
The governor also said the remaining execution will no longer take place this year.
“Carrying out a lawfully imposed sentence is among the State’s most serious responsibilities, and the people of Tennessee expect it to be done in a manner that is not only legal and constitutional, but is effective,” Lee said.
The governor’s statement underscores the state’s position that while it intends to carry out lawfully imposed death sentences, those sentences must be carried out effectively.
Pike’s execution had been set for Wednesday morning, but it was delayed by a last-minute legal battle.
The 6th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals voted 2-1 to issue a stay. The court argued that more time was needed to consider whether Pike’s alleged sexual abuse during her childhood had been fully taken into account when she was sentenced.
Tennessee’s attorney general’s office fought back, appealing the case to the Supreme Court.
The high court sided with the state in a 6-3 ruling, clearing the way for the execution to move forward.
The Court’s three liberal justices, Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson, all dissented.
But even after the Supreme Court gave the green light, state officials were unable to complete the execution. Two separate doses of the lethal injection failed to kill Pike, who was ultimately taken to the hospital.
Now, with the governor’s pause in place, no more executions will be carried out in Tennessee for the remainder of the year while the third-party review determines exactly what went wrong.
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