Tennessee’s attempt to execute Christa Pike using lethal injection fails, emergency motion says

Updated on: October 1, 2026 / 3:42 AM EDT / CBS News

Tennessee officials on Wednesday night were unable to carry out the execution of Christa Pike, according to an emergency motion filed by her attorneys and media witnesses. She has been transported to an area hospital, state officials said.

Hours later, Gov. Bill Lee said in a statement that he had halted the one execution Tennessee had scheduled through the rest of the year and had ordered "a comprehensive, third-party review to determine exactly what occurred," The Associated Press reported.

Pike was slated to be the first woman executed in Tennessee in the last 200 years when the Supreme Court ruled earlier Wednesday that her execution could proceed.

According to media witnesses, authorities appeared to give Pike two doses of pentobarbital, and she was still awake and snoring more than 40 minutes after the last dose, The Associated Press reported. At 8:53 p.m. local time, there was an announcement to escort media witnesses out of the area.

An emergency motion was also filed by her attorneys with the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee to halt the execution.

According to the motion, Pike "has not lost…

Original source: https://www.cbsnews.com/healthwatch/