Dramatic complications in the planned execution of Christa Pike in Tennessee

Dramatic complications have arisen in the first scheduled execution of a woman in Tennessee in more than 200 years. According to Christa Pike's defense attorneys, the 50-year-old was initially still alive after receiving two lethal injections, as can be seen from a corresponding court document. It literally says: “At 8:26 p.m., witnesses to the execution reported that the executioners had injected both syringes with the deadly chemicals and that Pike was still alive and snoring.”

A short time later, Judge Kyle Hixson said that in a conference call with attorneys for all involved, the state informed the court "that Ms. Pike had not been declared dead." The correctional authority then ordered emergency medical care. Pike was transported to a hospital.

Pike was the only woman currently serving a sentence on the state's death row, according to the Tennessee government's official website. She is the first woman to be executed in Tennessee since 1819, according to the Cornell Center on the Death Penalty Worldwide.

An appeals court had initially overturned the execution. But the Supreme Court of the United States overruled this court, and so the execution was rescheduled for the evening. At 8:53 p.m., more than 40 minutes after administering the second dose of the drug pentobarbital, Pike was still conscious.