Convicted murderer Christa Pike is unconscious, intubated and receiving breathing assistance from a ventilator after Tennessee’s failed attempt to execute her, her attorneys said on Friday (October 2, 2026), providing the first detailed account of the extent of injuries she suffered during the lethal injection.
“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.
Hospital staff are working to save Pike’s life and clear the lethal drug pentobarbital from her system, her attorneys said in an emergency court filing seeking an order requiring Tennessee’s Department of Correction to preserve evidence from Wednesday night’s botched execution. Pike’s body,” Pike’s lawyers said in a filing in the Chancery Court for the State of Tennessee Twentieth Judicial District.
