Christa Pike was on a ventilator and unconscious after failed Tennessee execution, attorneys say

This photo provided by the Tennessee Department of Correction shows Christa Pike on Jan. 12, 2023. (TDOC via AP)

By The Associated Press,

Posted October 2, 2026 11:39 am.

NASHVILLE (AP) — Christa Pike remained in a hospital where she was on a ventilator and unconscious after her failed execution in Tennessee, her attorneys said in a court filing Friday.

Hospital staff were working to save Pike’s life and clear the pentobarbital she was administered from her system as of late Thursday, the attorney’s said.

Pike was given two doses of the drug in a failed attempt Wednesday to execute her.

In the court filing, Pike’s attorneys said they believed problems with the IV lines caused the pentobarbital to flow into her body instead of her bloodstream.

“Apparently at no point did any member of the execution team realize that the IV lines were not correctly placed or that the veins had blown and that the pentobarbital was, in whole or in part, entering Ms. Pike’s body,” they wrote.

They wrote that instead of “remedying this failure” prepared and administered a backup set of pentobarbital syringes.

The Associated Press

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