Tennessee execution attempt fails after lethal injection drugs do not kill inmate

A woman on death row in Tennessee survived her own execution on September 30, 2026. Christa Pike, 50, was still alive after prison staff gave her two full doses of lethal injection drugs. Witnesses said she was breathing and had a heartbeat. Her lawyers went to court during the procedure to stop it. A federal appeals court agreed to pause the execution, but the Supreme Court overruled that decision. Tennessee Governor Bill Lee then stopped all other executions planned for 2026 and ordered an outside review of the process. Pike had asked to be executed by firing squad instead, saying she was worried about pain. United Nations human rights officials had also called for her sentence to be changed before the execution took place.