On September 30, 2026, the state of Tennessee carried out what was intended to be a lethal injection execution of Christa Pike. The procedure involved two doses of the drug pentobarbital. Instead of causing death, the doses left Pike alive, marking the attempt as botched.
Following the failed injection, Pike was taken to a hospital where she received medical care. Her condition required the temporary use of a ventilator to assist her breathing. Medical staff attended to her during this period, providing the care she needed after the unusual circumstances.
Once her immediate medical needs were addressed and she was stable enough, Christa Pike was discharged from the hospital. She was then returned to prison to continue serving her sentence, having survived the execution attempt that the state had intended to be final.
She was then returned to prison to continue serving her sentence, having survived the execution attempt that the state had intended to be final.
On October 10, 2026, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee directed an investigation into the execution process that had led to Pike’s survival. At the same time, he ordered a pause on any further executions in the state while the inquiry proceeded.
Also on October 10, 2026, the director of the Tennessee Department of Corrections resigned from the position.
Christa Pike’s lawyers released a statement in which they said she is "grateful to the first responders and her medical team for the care they provided her under these exceptional circumstances." They also asserted that Pike is the first person known to have survived after receiving lethal substances during an execution attempt.