Christa Gail Pike entered Tennessee’s execution chamber believing she had only minutes left to live. Prison officials administered two doses of the lethal drug pentobarbital. Yet Pike continued breathing. Witnesses heard her snoring behind a curtain long after the process began.
An ambulance later carried her away from Riverbend Maximum Security Institution. Her unexpected survival stopped the Christa Pike execution. It did not automatically erase her death sentence. A new legal battle is now taking shape.
