Murderess’s wish for all-female execution team ends in botched lethal injection
October 3, 2026
Summarised by Centrist
Convicted murderer Christa Pike survived Tennessee’s September 30 lethal-injection attempt after apparently receiving the all-female execution team she had requested.
Her lawyers say the 50-year-old is in critical condition in hospital with a “likely brain injury”.
“What I saw was consistent with that,” lawyer Randy Spivey said when asked whether the execution staff were all women. Pike had requested female staff because of her history of sexual abuse, her lawyers said.
Spivey said staff spent about an hour establishing IV lines. Pike remained cooperative, suggesting where they could find veins and thanking them when the lines were inserted.
Her lawyers suspect the drugs entered her arm tissue rather than her bloodstream. She survived two doses of pentobarbital, but the precise cause of the failure remains unconfirmed.
Pike was convicted of torturing and murdering 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer in 1995, when Pike was 18.
Governor Bill Lee has suspended further executions for the rest of 2026 and ordered an independent review. The state’s corrections department says it followed its execution protocol.
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