Pike’s lawyers say the drug seeped out of her veins into her tissue, leaving severe caustic burns. She is now conscious and speaking in hospital after several days unconscious and on a ventilator, but her prognosis remains unclear, her attorneys said. Tennessee says it followed its execution protocol.
Gov. Bill Lee halted scheduled executions for the rest of 2026 and ordered an independent review after the failure, the state’s second this year. Prisons chief Frank Strada has resigned and will leave this month. Pike’s lawyers are seeking commutation of her death sentence for the 1995 murder of her classmate, 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer, committed when Pike, now 50, was 18.