Tennessee orders outside review after failed execution of Christa Pike

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee has ordered a thirdparty review after prison officials failed to carry out the execution of Christa Pike, the only woman on the state’s death row. Pike, convicted in the 1995 killing of her classmate Colleen Slemmer, was taken for medical treatment after the attempted lethal injection on Wednesday night. According to court filings from Pike’s lawyers and witness accounts, officials injected the lethal chemicals, but Pike appeared to remain alive and was reported to be snoring and gasping. The Tennessee Department of Correction said it followed its approved protocol and defended the procedure. The incident was the second failed execution in Tennessee this year. Lee said the remaining scheduled execution in the state will not proceed this year while the review examines what happened. Pike’s lawyers had argued against the execution, citing her age at the time of the crime, abuse in childhood, and mental health diagnoses.