Tennessee execution survivor Christa Pike on ventilator, attorneys say

Hospital staff are working to save convicted murderer Christa Pike's life and clear the lethal drug pentobarbital from her system.

A picture taken on Dec 4, 2007, shows death-row inmate Christa Pike entering the Knox County Criminal Court in Knoxville, Tennessee, US, obtained by Reuters on Sep 30, 2026. (File photo: J. Miles Cary/ Knoxville News Sentinel/USA Today Network via Reuters)

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NASHVILLE: 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 (Oct 2), providing the first detailed account of the extent of injuries she suffered during the lethal injection.

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 remains in critical condition, her lawyers said, two days after the state administered two doses of pentobarbital but failed to kill her. She has suffered significant injuries to both arms, they added.

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