The failed effort to kill Christa Pike has placed a harsh spotlight on the practice of capital punishment in America, one of 17 countries to carry out an execution last year, as well as the regularity with which those executions go awry. Ms. Pike was given two doses of lethal pentobarbital but then rushed for medical care when it was clear she was still alive. She was unconscious, intubated and on a ventilator in a hospital as of Thursday night.
"It is hard to see how this can be allowed to continue — not only in Tennessee, but nationwide," said Maya Foa, the chief executive of Reprieve, an anti-death penalty group. She called the failed attempt to kill Ms. Pike "one of the most catastrophic executions" in U.S. history. In 2025, 47 people were executed in the United States, more than in any year since 2009, though still below the peak of 98 executed in 1999. Yet even as technology has evolved and new tactics have been tried on death row prisoners, officials continue to botch executions. Prisoners have suffered for long periods as doctors fail to find a suitable vein. Some have died in gruesome, unintended situations involving blood or flames. But Ms. Pike, who was convicted of murder in the 1995 killing of her classmate, survived, and is now part of a minuscule cohort of prisoners to have done so.
On Thursday, President Trump expressed disbelief at Tennessee’s error. "How does that happen?" he said. "It shouldn’t be very difficult." Mr. Trump, an outspoken advocate of capital punishment, began his second term by ordering prosecutors to pursue the death penalty in more cases. And in April, he said the Justice Department would allow additional methods of execution such as firing squads. A majority of Americans continue to support capital punishment, but that backing has declined in recent decades, according to public opinion polls. Ms. Pike’s botched killing was the second time this year that Tennessee officials failed to administer a lethal injection. In May, the state called off the execution of Tony Carruthers because staff members couldn’t find a suitable vein. On Thursday, Gov. Bill Lee paused executions in Tennessee and called for a review of the state’s policies. Mr. Lee, a Republican, had ordered a similar review in 2022 after officials failed to properly test the drugs before an execution. Many expressed frustration that a process meant to kill Ms. Pike ended with her being rushed for lifesaving care. The mother of Colleen Slemmer, the 19-year-old woman killed by Ms. Pike, said she’d been deprived of justice for her daughter’s killing.
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