Tennessee attempted to execute Christa Pike, the only woman on the state’s death row, by lethal injection on Wednesday night. Two doses of pentobarbital were administered. Pike, 50, did not die. She was taken to a hospital, and witnesses described labored breathing along with a question directed at staff about whether the process was supposed to feel that way.
The United Nations Human Rights Office responded the following day, calling the prolonged physical and mental suffering “abhorrent and cruel.” UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk urged Tennessee to halt its pursuit of Pike’s execution, stating that “the death penalty has no place in any society.” The office also expressed concern about what it described as an increase in executions across the United States.
Pike was convicted in the 1995 killing of 19-year-old classmate Colleen Slemmer. Her case has drawn attention for decades, including claims of mental illness and abuse raised by her defense, and it now raises broader questions about how states carry out executions and what happens when a protocol fails in real time. What do you think should happen when an execution goes wrong? Share your thoughts in the comments.
