According to prison officials, Tennessee's first attempt to execute a woman in nearly two centuries failed.
It was not immediately disclosed what the health condition of 50-year-old Pike was after the incident. It is not yet clear what legal steps both his lawyers and the state government will take regarding Pike, who was taken from Riverbend prison in Nashville to a health institution.
DESPITE TWO DOSES...
The Tennessee Department of Corrections defended that the state's legal procedure was fully implemented in the execution attempt, which had a wide public response.
"The Tennessee Department of Corrections implemented every step of the state's legal and established execution protocol approved by the Attorney General's Office," the institution's statement said.
In the statement, it was stated that the lethal injection chemical used in the protocol was consistently effective in the past, but it was noted that the current procedure does not allow additional intervention beyond the procedures performed. It was reported that Pike was transferred to a health institution outside the prison.
Journalists who witnessed the execution attempt reported that Pike made snoring-like sounds, exhaled loudly, had difficulty breathing, and complained of discomfort in his arm. Since the curtain of the execution chamber was closed at some moments, journalists could not see what was happening inside and could only hear the voices.
It was reported that religious officials were called to the execution room twice, and then an ambulance arrived at the prison and Pike was taken away from there.
NEW APPLICATION FROM LAWYERS
Pike's lawyers filed an urgent application to the federal court, asking for a halt to the execution while the execution was ongoing.
In the court filing cited by NBC News, it was stated that witnesses said that poisonous chemicals in both syringes were injected into Pike, but that Pike was still alive and snoring.
Tennessee Governor Bill Lee, who rejected Pike's request for clemency on Monday, suspended all executions in the state for the rest of the year after the unsuccessful execution attempt. Lee also called for a thorough review of Pike's attempted execution by an independent organization, according to the Nashville Tennessean.
This was the second unsuccessful execution attempt in Tennessee in 2026. In May, prison officials abandoned the execution of an inmate convicted of murder after failing to provide proper access for a lethal injection into his vein.
WHY DOES HE WANT TO BE EXECUTED?
Pike was 18 years old in January 1995. She, her then-17-year-old boyfriend, Tadaryl Shipp, and a third person took Slemmer, their classmate from the Job Corps vocational training center in Knoxville, to a wooded area. Slemmer was tortured and killed here.
The murder received wide coverage in the American press of the time due to its brutality. The perpetrators had carved a pentagram shape into the victim's chest and taken a piece of his skull with them.
Pike and Shipp confessed to the murder and were both convicted of first-degree murder. Slemmer's mother, May Martinez, publicly stated that she supports Pike's execution.
Lawyers brought up severe childhood traumas
In their 226-page clemency application to the Governor of Tennessee, Pike's lawyers requested that the death penalty be commuted to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.
In the application, it was stated that Pike was exposed to violence, neglect and sexual abuse in his childhood; It was stated that she was raped twice at the ages of 11 and 17. Lawyers also stated that Pike was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder in prison.
The defense also claimed that there was evidence that Pike's mother used alcohol heavily during her pregnancy, which affected Pike's brain development and contributed to her having difficulty controlling her impulses during her youth.
