Christa Pike was supposed to become the first woman executed in Tennessee in more than 200 years on Sept. 30. Instead, the 50-year-old left Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville in an ambulance after two syringes of pentobarbital failed to stop her heart.

Death penalty experts say there’s nothing to compare it to. “This event is the worst we’ve seen and unlike any other botched execution in the modern era,” Robin Maher, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center, told The New York Times. “There is no precedent.”


Here’s what to know about the drug and what happened inside the execution chamber.

What Is Pentobarbital?

Pentobarbital, sometimes sold under the brand name Nembutal, is a short-acting barbiturate, a type of drug that slows down the central nervous system, according to the Cleveland Clinic. The DEA classifies it as a Schedule II controlled substance.

In a medical setting, it’s used in much smaller amounts. Approved uses include sedation, short-term treatment of insomnia, preparing patients for anesthesia, and emergency control of certain severe seizures. Veterinarians also use it to euthanize animals.

What Happened During Christa Pike’s Execution?

After sharing her final words, Pike appeared to be in pain. WPLN reporter Catherine Sweeney said Pike “lifted her head up” and “said that there was a spot that was burning and hurting and asked if that was normal,” 6 News on Your Side reported. “None of it was normal,” Sweeney added.

Pike began snoring, and witnesses were asked to leave at 8:53 p.m. while she was still breathing. The AP’s Kim Chandler described her as “loudly snoring, clearly very alive,” per CBS News. Shortly after, an ambulance took her to a hospital.

Why Didn’t It Work?

Officials haven’t said. The Tennessee Department of Correction maintained that it “followed every step” of the protocol.

Pike’s attorneys disagreed. “We take no pleasure in being right, but the concerns raised by Ms. Pike proved to be true: difficult vein access, blown veins, degraded pentobarbital, no emergency medical care available when things inevitably go wrong, all under a protocol that remains veiled in secrecy,” they said in a statement to CBS News.

What Happens Now?

As of Oct. 1, Pike’s condition was unknown. Gov. Bill Lee said her execution remains under a stay, paused all Tennessee executions for the rest of 2026, and called for a third-party review of the protocol.

Pike was sentenced to death for the 1995 murder of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer, a fellow Knoxville Job Corps student, when Pike was 18.



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