Christa Pike reported severe discomfort during botched execution in Tennessee

Christa Pike expressed concern to medical staff during her execution attempt in Tennessee, stating she thought her arm would 'burst open,' according to her lawyers. Pike, 50, who is on death row for the 1995 murder of her classmate, remains unconscious and intubated following the failed execution attempt on October 3, 2026. She was administered two doses of pentobarbital, a drug described by experts as caustic and harmful to human tissue. Medical personnel reportedly used at least seven needles before successfully accessing a vein, with one needle bending at a 90-degree angle upon removal. During the procedure at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville, witnesses reported hearing Pike gasping for air and crying out. After the execution attempt, she was taken to a Nashville hospital where both arms were found to be swollen, burned, and blistered. Pike is noted as the only person to survive a lethal injection after the drugs entered the bloodstream and is currently in critical condition, with her attorney indicating she likely suffered permanent brain damage. Pike was convicted of murdering her Job Corps classmate Colleen Slemmer in 1995, a crime she committed at the age of 18. She was sentenced to death in 1996, while her accomplices received different sentences based on their involvement.