# Failed execution was ‘cruel and torturous’, says lawyer. Murderer was ‘awake and laughing’ says victim’s family

**Published:** 2026-10-02T12:39:16+13:00  
**Source:** [Stuff](https://www.stuff.co.nz/world-news/361041362/tennessee-governor-calls-christa-pikes-failed-execution-deeply-disturbing)

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Witnesses recount failed execution: 'Nothing was normal about today'

Christa Pike remains alive, in a critical condition, a day after she survived a failed attempt to execute her for the 1995 murder of a woman.

Pike, who was sentenced to death for a 1995 murder, was taken to a hospital Wednesday night (local time) after surviving a double dose of the drug Tennessee uses to execute prisoners.

“We don’t have a sense of her prognosis or much update on her health at the moment,” attorney Randy Spivey said during a news conference. “But we know she is alive right now.”

The failed execution, which one death penalty expert described as unprecedented, led Republican Governor Bill Lee to order a review, calling what happened “deeply disturbing” and indefinitely postponing Pike’s execution and another one that had been scheduled for this year. It also reignited the debate over the state’s execution procedures, including its single-drug lethal injections.

Christa Gail Pike was taken by ambulance from the prison to a hospital, where she was being treated, her lawyers said. Photo: AP

Spivey called the process cruel and torturous, saying he was “haunted” by watching and hearing Pike talking, singing and then snoring loudly during her more than 90 minutes in the death chamber. Her attorneys also said it was unclear if she might have suffered brain damage from being deprived of oxygen.

‘She was awake. She was laughing’

May Martinez, whose daughter was murdered by Pike and her boyfriend and who traveled to Nashville to watch the execution, was also upset.

“I didn’t get justice for my daughter,” Martinez told The Associated Press on Thursday.

“I watched the whole thing. She was awake. She was laughing. She was moving her head, moving her feet. She was trying to sit up,” Martinez said. “Didn’t work the first time they gave her a shot. It didn’t work the second time.”

Media witnesses recount the moments before the execution of Christa Pike was halted. Photo: George Walker IV / AP

Media witness WKRN reporter Victoria Gessner speaks after the execution was halted. Photo: George Walker IV / AP

Pike said ‘I’m ready to be free’ in execution chamber

Strapped to a gurney in the execution chamber, Pike described herself as at peace.

When asked if she had any last words, Pike said several things, including, “I’m at peace. I’m ready to be free. ... This is a happy day.”

But she remained awake, and at one point complained about the feeling in her arm. The chamber's curtains were closed, suggesting it had been five minutes since the first dose was administered. But they were reopened three minutes later.

An hour after officials first raised the curtains, witnesses reported that a second dose of pentobarbital was administered. Pike could still be heard snoring behind a closed curtain until the microphone was cut off almost 30 minutes later.

Lawyers for Pike filed an emergency motion with the Tennessee Supreme Court seeking to immediately halt and stay the execution, saying she was in “unnecessary agony” and the procedure violated her right to be executed free of cruel and unusual punishment. They also filed motions with two other courts.

Christa Gail Pike was 18 when she and her boyfriend were convicted of killing 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer in Tennessee in 1995. Photo: AP

Pentagram carved in victim’s body

Pike and her boyfriend were convicted of the fatal stabbing of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer, a classmate. The killing stoked fears of Satan worship because of a pentagram carved on Slemmer’s body.

Pike’s boyfriend wasn’t eligible for the death penalty because he was 17 at the time of the killing and received a sentence of life in prison. He was denied parole last year.

Pike didn't dispute that she helped kill Slemmer, but supporters argued that Pike's age at the time of the murder, her mental illness and her allegations of severe sexual abuse should be considered. She was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder after the killing.

“It took me numerous years to even realize the gravity of what I’d done,” she once said.