Tennessee woman in hospital after execution 'failed': lawyers

Christa Pike, a Tennessee woman, is currently hospitalized after an execution attempt, according to her lawyers. The Supreme Court recently allowed Pike to become the first woman to be executed in Tennessee by lethal injection in over 200 years. Authorities have not confirmed the outcome of the execution, which involved two injections of pentobarbital.

Pike's attorneys stated that the state "failed" to carry out the execution, and she is being treated at a nearby hospital. The execution was initially scheduled to take place at 10am at the Riverbend Maximum Security Institution, where witnesses reported that Pike was still breathing despite the injections. The US Supreme Court's decision to allow the execution sparked debate over capital punishment for young criminals and mental health considerations.

Pike was 18 years old when she and her boyfriend killed Colleen Slemmer, a 19-year-old victim whose body was found with a pentagram carved into her chest. Pike's lawyers argued for clemency due to her age and mental health issues at the time of the crime. The UN rights experts have urged the US government and Tennessee authorities to halt the execution and commute her death sentence.