Christa Pike survived a lethal injection attempt – the latest person to endure a failed execution
The constitutional prohibition of cruel and unusual punishment has shaped legal discourse around failed executions, but courts have not stopped states from attempting to execute the same person again.
On September 30, 2026, Christa Pike made history in Tennessee when she survived a lethal injection attempt. The 56-year-old woman received two doses of pentobarbital, a drug meant to kill her, but she lived to tell the tale. Pike's survival is not an isolated incident, as Tennessee had attempted to execute Tony Carruthers on May 21, 2026, for a 1994 triple murder.
Carruthers, too, survived the lethal injection, forcing Governor Bill Lee to grant him a one-year reprieve. Throughout history, only eight people have experienced a successful execution attempt followed by survival. Four of these individuals met their fate after a second execution attempt, while others are still awaiting their fate.
While the Eighth Amendment's prohibition on "cruel and unusual punishment" has shaped discussions around failed executions, courts have not intervened to prevent states from retrying condemned individuals.
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