Christa Pike, a convicted murderer, was supposed to be executed on Sept. 30, but two lethal injections did not kill her.

Pike survived the doses of pentobarbital, her lawyers said. Tennessee officials have confirmed that Pike is still alive.

Here’s what to know about the case.

‘Take No Pleasure in Being Right’

Lawyers for Pike, 50, had attempted to halt the execution, arguing in court filings that new developments in the case called into question her conviction for murdering a 19-year-old woman in 1995.

They also expressed concerns about the state’s execution practices, after the execution of another convicted murderer failed.

“Tonight the State of Tennessee once again failed to carry out a lawful execution,” Pike’s attorneys said in a statement to news outlets late Sept. 30, after the execution was botched.

“We take no pleasure in being right, but the concerns raised by Ms. Pike proved to be true: difficult vein access, blown veins, degraded pentobarbital, no emergency medical care available when things inevitably go wrong, all under a protocol that remains veiled in secrecy.”

Witnesses Describe What Happened

Pike’s lawyers said in an emergency court filing that even after both syringes of pentobarbital, a drug commonly used as a lethal injection, were administered, Pike had not lost consciousness, still had a heartbeat, and was audibly snoring.

“They went through two rounds, and she was still breathing,” Catherine Sweeney, a WPLN reporter who was present for the attempted execution at the Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville, said at a briefing.

Other reporters described hearing loud or heavy snoring.

When the execution chamber curtains were raised at about 7:27 p.m., enabling the reporters to see what was inside, they saw Pike strapped to a gurney. She had an IV in her right arm.

Pike said, “The vein in my arm feels like it’s about to bust” and “one spot is really throbbing,” according to Will Puckett, a WVLT-TV reporter. Pike spoke to her spiritual adviser and soon began taking deep breaths and kicking her feet, he said.

The curtains were closed. When they were reopened, Pike’s lips were quivering, and it sounded like she was choking, reporters said. They were closed again at 8:05 p.m., after Pike’s body “flexed as she gasped for air,” Puckett said.

Witnesses were told to leave at 8:53 p.m., about two and a half hours after they arrived. Emergency vehicles were seen pulling up to the building.

Pike had been asked before the injections whether she had any last words, and she said, “I’m going to leave this world the way I spent most of my life, and that is with love,” Damon Lawrence with Roane County News said.

Governor Halts Executions

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee just before midnight said he was pausing all executions for the rest of the year.

“Carrying out a lawfully imposed sentence is among the State’s most serious responsibilities, and the people of Tennessee expect it to be done in a manner that is not only legal and constitutional, but is effective,” Lee said in a statement to outlets.

A federal judge overseeing Pike’s case said that the halt made the emergency request to stop Pike’s execution moot. The judge said state parties told him they had begun administering medical care to Pike.

“The Tennessee Department of Correction followed every step of the State’s lawful, established execution protocol approved by the Attorney General’s Office,” the department said in a statement.

“The lethal injection chemical in the protocol has consistently been effective, and the protocol does not allow for additional procedures beyond what was carried out this evening.”

Candidates React

Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), who is running for governor, told The Epoch Times in an email that Pike should have been executed long ago and that the botched execution is extending the pain for her victim’s family.

“While there should be a thorough review of what happened and why the process failed, the answer is simple: bring back the electric chair and deliver justice for these victims swiftly,“ Blackburn said. ”As your governor, I will do just that.”

Jerri Green, the Democratic nominee for governor, told The Epoch Times in an email: “The state botched this execution because the Attorney General rushed this process, even after the execution of Tony Carruthers failed just four months ago.

“There is a lack of transparency around drug testing, as well as qualified and ethical personnel—but the fact of the matter is: the death penalty has always been inhumane, expensive, and biased. And Marsha Blackburn wants to bring back one of the most cruel forms of capital punishment, the electric chair.

“As a public defender, I’ve met a few too many people who were wrongfully convicted on death row [and] were later exonerated. As Governor, I would put a moratorium on all future executions. If we say we are pro-life, that means we must be anti-death penalty.”

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Pike Taken to Hospital

The Tennessee Department of Corrections said that Pike was transported from the prison to an off-site medical facility after she survived the injections.

Pike’s attorneys said that Pike was “being treated at a nearby hospital.”

They said they had not received information about her condition.

The lawyers and the Tennessee Department of Corrections did not respond to a request for comment on Oct. 1.

Murder Conviction

Pike, 18 at the time, beat, tortured, and killed another woman, Colleen Slemmer, on Jan. 12, 1995.

She was convicted of first-degree murder after confessing to the killing.

Pike, the only woman on Tennessee’s death row, had requested that courts stay her execution, in part because of what her lawyers said were new developments, including that state officials had conceded that she was sexually abused as a child.

The Tennessee Supreme Court denied the request, but a federal appeals court on Sept. 30 paused the execution. The U.S. Supreme Court lifted the stay hours later.

The majority of justices did not explain the move. Three justices said that they did not agree.

“I see no reason to short-circuit the ordinary process of appellate review, particularly in light of the grave consequences of an erroneous decision,” Justice Sonia Sotomayor said in a dissent joined by Justices Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson.