Tennessee death row inmate hospitalized after failed lethal injection attempt

• Her lawyers filed an emergency motion to halt the procedure mid-execution after noting she was still breathing and snoring.
• Witnesses saw the execution room curtain closed twice during the failed attempts before journalists were asked to leave the area.

Convicted inmate Christa Pike has been hospitalized following a failed execution attempt involving two lethal injection attempts, according to her lawyer.

The lawyers of the 50-year-old Tennessee death row urged officials to stop the execution after two syringes of pentobarbital failed to kill her, stating in court filings that "Ms. Pike has lost consciousness and still has a heartbeat and is audibly snoring." 

One of her attorneys confirmed to the BBC that Pike is currently receiving emergency treatment at a nearby hospital.

The Associated Press reported that executioners administered two separate doses of pentobarbital to Christa Pike, closing the witness room curtain twice during the procedure. 

Media representatives present at the execution were eventually asked to leave the witness area.

According to AP, while Tennessee’s official execution guidelines mandate preparing a backup set of lethal injection syringes if the initial dose fails to cause death, the protocol contains no specific instructions or procedures for cases where an inmate remains alive after receiving the second set.

Pike was sentenced to death in 1996 for the murder of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer.

Her attorneys argued the decision ignores consensus regarding adolescent trauma and mental illness, stating that Pike is now a remorseful, treated woman who assists fellow inmates. 

Previously, execution had been the focus of intense, last-minute legal appeals, which ultimately reached the US Supreme Court before justices allowed the state to proceed with the lethal injection.