An American prisoner survives a botched execution and receives medical care in critical condition

American prisoner Christa Pike, who is on death row in Tennessee, is receiving life-saving medical care, and is in a “critical condition” in the hospital, after surviving two execution attempts by lethal injection, which prompted the state’s governor to halt all executions during the current year.

Her lawyer, Randy Spivey, told reporters on Thursday: “We do not have a clear outlook on her expected medical prognosis, or many updates on her health condition at this time. But we know that she is still alive now.”

Her lawyers are now demanding that her sentence be reduced. Pike, now 50, was sentenced to death in 1996 after being convicted of the murder of Colleen Slimer, whom she met at a vocational training camp for troubled teenagers in 1995.

Her lawyers said that on Wednesday, she was given two lethal injections of pentobarbital*, but she survived. She was then transferred to the hospital by ambulance.

Details of what happened during the failed execution attempt are still unfolding.

“Last night, the enforcement team attempted to install an intravenous catheter for an hour,” Spivey said.

He added: "I counted at least seven needles that were used in her left arm alone, and one of them appeared to be bent when it was withdrawn from her arm after an unsuccessful attempt."

A media witness reported that Baek complained of pain caused by the injections, saying, "I feel like my arm is about to explode."

Another witness, journalist Stephen Hill of the Nashville Banner, told the BBC: “None of us witnessed anything like this. "It was catastrophic by almost every measure."

Hill told BBC Radio 4: “Honestly, she didn't look like she was dying. Rather, she appeared to be in a state between life and death, and remained that way for a very long time, much longer than is usually supposed to happen.”

For his part, US President Donald Trump commented on the failed execution attempt, saying: "It shouldn't be this difficult."

Pike was 18 years old when she and her then-boyfriend, Tadaryl Shipp, beat, tortured, and killed Slimer, then 19 years old.

Last Wednesday, Pike's execution attempt witnessed a last-minute legal battle, which ended with the US Supreme Court allowing the execution of the sentence to proceed using the two lethal doses.

“It was a mess,” May Martinez, Slimer’s mother, who was among those calling for the death penalty and traveled to Tennessee to watch, told NBC News after the failed attempt.

Shipp was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole, and is still serving his sentence in prison.

He was exempted from the death penalty for his role in the crime, because he had not reached the legal age of majority at the time it occurred.

In their account of Wednesday's events, Pike's lawyers described a scene shrouded in mystery and secrecy.

Spivey said observers were kept in a dark room behind a closed curtain after the second lethal dose was administered, and "it became clear that Miss Pike was still breathing" minutes later.

He added: “No one knew what was going on behind that curtain. “I had no idea when or if medical workers started helping.”

Spivey said the state's governor must now commute Christa's sentence, a request that had previously been denied.

Stephen Ferrell, also one of Pike's lawyers, said they are considering other legal options.

He added: "We want to think about it carefully, and we want to make sure that Krista recovers and has a say in what she wants."

Tennessee Governor Bill Lee has ordered an independent review, and said on Thursday that the investigation into Pike's failed execution attempt "will be comprehensive," adding that "it will take time."

Lee added: "There are a lot of questions. The people of our state deserve answers, and that is the goal of this investigation."

He did not clarify to me who would conduct the independent review of the procedures for implementing death sentences in the state.

The decision to suspend all executions will coincide with the scheduled execution of convicted murderer, Gary Sutton, on December 3.

The Tennessee Department of Corrections, which supervised the execution, issued a statement defending its handling of the case.

She said in a statement that she "followed every step of the state's legal execution protocol, which was approved by the Attorney General's Office."

She added: "The chemical used in lethal injection within the protocol has consistently proven its effectiveness, and the protocol does not allow additional procedures beyond what was implemented this evening (Wednesday)."

According to court filings submitted by Pike's lawyers, she was given two doses of pentobarbital, according to the state's protocol, when the first attempt failed, but she remained alive after that.

Her lawyers said the execution caused her “unnecessary suffering* and violated her right to be carried out “without cruel or unusual punishment.”

The Tennessee Attorney General's Office said in a statement that it supports the call for an investigation, adding: "We need to know what happened."

This is the second time in 2026 that Tennessee authorities have attempted and failed to execute a prisoner.

Last May, the death sentence of prisoner Tony Carruthers was canceled after concerned officials were unable to find a vein to inject him with a lethal substance. Carruthers was granted a one-year reprieve.