Tennessee inmate Christa Pike still alive after lethal injection dose, lawyers say

Christa Pike, Tennessee's only female death row inmate, was administered a lethal injection but survived, according to her lawyers. They claim that despite being given two doses of pentobarbital at 8:26 p.m. local time, Pike remained alive. Her federal public defenders have filed a motion with the Tennessee Supreme Court citing witness accounts.

Pike has been on death row since her conviction and sentencing in 1996 for the murder of Colleen Slemmer. If executed, she would be the first woman to be executed in Tennessee in over 200 years. The US Supreme Court had previously cleared the way for her execution, overturning a last-minute reprieve granted by a lower court.

The execution attempt was halted temporarily by a federal appeals court, but the Supreme Court vacated that order, allowing the execution to proceed. However, following the failed lethal injection, Pike's lawyers are now seeking further action.

Brief written by urgent.news from The Hill, Hindustan Times - World News, CBS News, BBC World, El Pais — 5 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.