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Justice · Failed executionContinuing story · report 5 of 5

After Christa Pike’s Failed Execution, Her Rescue Was Called a False Alarm

New emergency records show an ambulance request was dismissed after Tennessee’s failed execution. Pike is recovering in prison, but the cause of the failure and her future under a death sentence remain unresolved.

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Full story
  1. Update 1Christa Pike’s execution halted; Tennessee asks Supreme Court to lift stay
  2. Update 2Two Doses, One Failed Execution: Tennessee Pauses After Pike Survives
  3. Update 3Who Reviews a Failed Execution When the Reviewer Wrote the Rules?
  4. Update 4Christa Pike Is Awake. Could Tennessee Try to Execute Her Again?
  5. Update 5After Christa Pike’s Failed Execution, Her Rescue Was Called a False AlarmYou are here

What changed since our last report

5 days later

Then

Christa Pike Is Awake. Could Tennessee Try to Execute Her Again?

What we said was still open

  1. Whether Pike wakes, what injuries she has, and whether any state clinician will confirm her condition.

    Still open

    Pike woke October 6 and returned to prison October 10. Her lawyers have described injuries and recovery, but independent clinical confirmation and her lasting physical and cognitive outlook remain missing. 11447

  2. What caused the failure, and whether the drug reached her bloodstream.

    Still open

    The mechanism remains unproved, and no public toxicology establishes how much pentobarbital reached her bloodstream. 372

  3. When Stanton reports, and whether the findings will be public.

    Still open

    No public deadline, completed findings or publication arrangement is established through October 13. 307

  4. Whether the pause runs through 2026 only or through the rest of Lee's term.

    Answered

  5. Strada's resignation takes effect at the end of October, and an interim commissioner is to be named.

    Still open

    Our earlier end-of-October wording was too precise: the announcement said Strada would leave later in October. No exact effective date or named interim successor is established. 279

  6. Whether Lee answers the commutation request before his term ends in mid-January.

    Still open

    No decision on the renewed commutation request has been announced, and no deadline requiring Lee to answer before leaving office is established. 512

  7. Whether Sutton's intellectual-disability claim gets a hearing.

    Still open

    This update does not establish a hearing or ruling on Sutton’s intellectual-disability claim; the execution pause alone does not resolve it.

Now

New emergency records show an ambulance request was dismissed after Tennessee’s failed execution. Pike is recovering in prison, but the cause of the failure and her future under a death sentence remain unresolved.

Answered since

  1. Whether the pause runs through 2026 only or through the rest of Lee's term.

    Lee’s announced pause covers the remainder of 2026, not explicitly the rest of his term. Any extension—and any January restart—remains unannounced. 231502

What moved

  • Dispatch relays an instruction that the call is false and no medical help is needed.
  • Attorney Kelly Gleason requests immediate life-saving care.

On October 8, HeyDay News reported that Christa Gail Pike had awakened after Tennessee’s failed execution attempt but remained seriously ill in hospital. She has since returned to prison for continuing medical care. Now, emergency records released October 12 reveal another failure on the execution night: a genuine request for an ambulance was dismissed as a false alarm. 11 539

Pike survived two doses of pentobarbital during one execution session at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville on September 30, 2026. Roughly half an hour passed between the first emergency call and confirmation and gate access for responders. During that interval, dispatch was told no medical assistance was needed, and Pike’s lawyer called for immediate life-saving care. 4

The records expose a breakdown in the rescue response without solving why the execution failed. Pike, 50, remains under a death sentence. Tennessee has paused executions through year-end, but neither her recovery nor that temporary halt removes the possibility of another attempt. 11 231

An emergency that needed authentication

The first call came at 8:40 p.m. Central Daylight Time. The caller’s name and title were redacted. The released written account preserves these words: “We’ve been carrying out an execution tonight. We’ve administered 10 grams of pentobarbital. The person is not yet deceased. That started approximately 1 hour ago. And we’re calling for an ambulance.” The amount and elapsed time were the caller’s statements—not a measurement of how much drug reached Pike’s bloodstream or a precise execution start time. 3 484

Asked about breathing, the caller said: “No. The breathing is very labored and slow.” Asked about chest pain, the answer was: “I don’t know. The person is not conscious.” Being alive and breathing was not the same as breathing normally or being medically stable. 575

The dispatcher requested a location verification code. “I, I don’t have a code,” the caller answered. No public explanation establishes why the person reporting this emergency lacked it. What followed was a prolonged effort to authenticate a call whose medical urgency was already plainly described. 3 575

September 30 emergency response — Central Daylight Time

  1. 8:40 p.m. CDT

    The first caller requests an ambulance.

    4484
  2. 9:03 p.m. CDT

    Dispatch relays an instruction that the call is false and no medical help is needed.

    575
  3. 9:08 p.m. CDT

    Attorney Kelly Gleason requests immediate life-saving care.

    24
  4. About 9:11 p.m. CDT

    The emergency is confirmed and responder gate access is facilitated.

    4575
  5. 9:14 p.m. CDT

    Emergency vehicles are observed outside the execution building.

    571

Around 8:59 p.m., contact with prison central control produced denials that it had made the call. One statement was: “I’m being told that nobody from our facility called you, so there’s not really anything to speak of at the moment.” At 9:03, dispatch announced: “Per supervisors here at the DEC (Department of Emergency Communications) we have been informed it is a false call. There is no medical assistance needed at Riverbend Prison.” That assessment was wrong. The records do not establish who originated the erroneous information or what that person knew. 575

Further contacts around 9:06–9:07 produced a code and indications from the gate that the emergency was real. At 9:08, Gleason called, relaying information from another attorney present at the prison: “She has completed the stages of the protocol and last we knew from the attorney who is present, she is still alive and breathing and needs immediate life-saving care.” Sky News reports two calls from counsel at that time. 575 4

Confirmation and gate access around 9:11 were operational milestones, not verified times of first patient contact or treatment. Emergency communications also contacted the Tennessee Highway Patrol to help facilitate entry. Transport was underway around 9:34, with responders still discussing the destination. The records establish substantial delay; they do not establish how much additional injury it caused. 575 571

One correction matters: the first call was recorded. Nashville’s emergency-communications agency prepared the released written account by reviewing that audio, which it withheld under Tennessee law. The BBC’s October 13 video account described the call as unrecorded; absence from the public audio release was not absence of an original recording. Other calls were released as audio. 2 484 575

Recovery is not a medical verdict

Pike woke and began speaking October 6. Her lawyers had understood the previous evening that she was brain dead and expected life support to be withdrawn. That was their understanding, not a publicly verified formal brain-death determination. Their early accounts described pneumonia, a blood clot, severe arm and hand swelling, burns or blisters, impaired movement and difficulty swallowing. 21 23

Later updates described assisted walking, renewed use of her injured arms and a regular diet. October 8–9 accounts said her lungs were clear and physicians were encouraged by her physical recovery, while arm injuries still made holding a pen and signing her name difficult. Concentration and memory problems persisted; her lawyers said physicians advised that lasting cognitive effects could take months to assess. These remain legal-team accounts, not public assessments by treating clinicians. 13 15 447

She was discharged October 10 and returned to Debra K. Johnson Rehabilitation Center in Nashville. The Department of Correction confirmed her return without further clinical detail. ABC News’s October 12 briefing described a return after 12 days; BBC News’s October 10 report documented the discharge and return ten days after September 30. The established return date corrects the later interval. Discharge does not establish full neurological recovery or restored arm function. 8 11 512

The execution failure remains unexplained

The defense account describes more than an hour spent establishing two IV lines and at least seven needles used. Lawyers had warned about small veins and thrombocytosis, an elevated-platelet disorder. Randy Spivey, who witnessed the attempt, described Pike cooperating and suggesting places to find a vein. These are attributed accounts, not completed investigative findings. 9 10 499

A possible explanation is that an IV line failed or was incorrectly positioned, allowing pentobarbital into surrounding tissue. Swelling and burns are consistent with that possibility, but do not prove it. The Guardian’s October 11 account stated that the drug did not enter her bloodstream; no public blood-level measurements or independent toxicology establish that none entered, or quantify systemic exposure. 10 372

Governor Bill Lee ordered an independent review, and the attorney general’s office retained former U.S. Attorney Ed Stanton on October 3. Stanton led the 2022 review that helped shape the protocol now under scrutiny. Through October 13, no public reporting deadline, findings or commitment governing publication of supporting evidence has been established. 307

Chancellor I’Ashea Myles’s October 7 preservation order covers drugs, IV equipment, medical and training records, communications, recordings and other evidence, including efforts to recover discarded material where possible. Preservation is not immediate disclosure. The calls reveal part of the operational record; they do not establish release of execution-room video or the full medical and drug evidence. Hospital attorney-visit rules required wardens to respond within two hours—not guarantee physical entry within that period. 376 313

Lee denied clemency September 28, before the attempt. Pike’s lawyers renewed their request for life without parole, but no decision has been announced. At the October 7 hearing, Assistant Attorney General John W. Ayers said there was no pending execution order and did not know whether Tennessee would try again. No new application, order, date or Pike-specific ruling on a second attempt is established through October 13. 201 11 512

Pike was 18 when she tortured and killed 19-year-old classmate Colleen Slemmer in 1995; she was sentenced to death in 1996. Her survival does not undo that conviction or Slemmer’s family’s loss. It does require Tennessee to account for what happened to a person in its custody—both when it tried to kill her and when she needed rescue. 11

As aired 37 lines
  1. On October 8, we reported Christa Pike hospitalized. She's now recovering in prison.
  2. A real medical emergency was dismissed as a false call after she survived two doses of an execution drug. Tennessee has halted executions through year-end, but Pike still faces a death sentence. What blocked the rescue response, and could the state try to execute her again?
  3. Pike survived two doses of pentobarbital during one execution session at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville. The attempt happened September 30. She's now receiving medical care at the separate Debra K. Johnson Rehabilitation Center.
  4. An unidentified caller requested an ambulance at 8:40 that evening. The caller said staff had administered 10 grams of pentobarbital about an hour earlier. Pike was unconscious, and the caller described her breathing as very labored and slow.
  5. The caller's name and job title were withheld. The dispatcher asked for a location verification code, and the caller didn't have it. Nobody has explained why the person seeking emergency help lacked that code.
  6. Prison central control then denied making the call. Around 8:59, someone answering for the facility said nobody there had called emergency services. Dispatchers were trying to authenticate an emergency while receiving information that undermined the request.
  7. The first call was recorded. Nashville's emergency-communications agency released a written account prepared from that recording, but withheld the original audio under state law. Descriptions calling it unrecorded were wrong. Other calls were released as audio.
  8. Dispatch announced that no medical assistance was needed more than twenty minutes after the ambulance request. That instruction was wrong. Around 9:06 to 9:07, further contacts produced a code and information from the gate that the emergency was real.
  9. The first request came at 8:40. Dispatch called it false at 9:03. Lawyer Kelly Gleason sought life-saving care at 9:08. Officials confirmed the emergency and facilitated gate access around 9:11. Emergency vehicles were seen outside the execution building at 9:14.
  10. Gleason made two emergency calls, relaying information from another attorney who was present at the prison. She said Pike needed immediate life-saving care. She also described Pike as not awake and snoring. Breathing didn't mean she was breathing normally.
  11. About thirty minutes passed between the first call and confirmed gate access. Emergency officials also contacted the Tennessee Highway Patrol to help responders get inside. More than ninety minutes had passed since the execution process began.
  12. Transport was underway around 9:34, although responders were still discussing the destination. Nobody has given the exact time medical teams first reached Pike or began treatment. The delay's effect on her injuries is also unclear. The missing code and conflicting communications obstructed the response.
  13. Pike returned to prison October 10, ten days after the attempt. The twelve-day figure attached to her return was wrong. October 12 was twelve days after the execution attempt, but she'd already left the hospital.
  14. The Department of Correction confirmed her return. Her lawyers Stephen Ferrell, Luke Ihnen, Randy Spivey and Kelly Gleason said she was grateful to first responders and her medical team. She'd been housed at the women's facility for more than thirty years.
  15. Pike, who's fifty, woke and began speaking October 6. The previous evening, her lawyers had understood she was brain dead and expected life support to be withdrawn. No formal brain-death diagnosis was publicly confirmed. Their understanding changed when she woke.
  16. Her lawyers initially described pneumonia and a blood clot in one arm. They also described severe swelling, burns or blisters, impaired arm and hand movement, and trouble swallowing. They said she was angry and confused and restrained to her hospital bed.
  17. Later updates described assisted walking, renewed arm movement and a regular diet. Her lawyers said her lungs were clear and physicians were encouraged by her physical recovery. Those improvements came alongside continuing difficulty with concentration and memory.
  18. Arm injuries still made holding a pen and signing her name difficult. Her lawyers said physicians advised that lasting cognitive effects could take months to assess. They also described profound psychological trauma from surviving the attempt.
  19. The latest account from her attorney described her as alert, speaking and on her feet in prison. Her recovery continues, and her long-term physical and cognitive outlook is still unclear.
  20. Her lawyers say staff spent more than an hour establishing two IV lines and used at least seven needles. They'd warned about her small veins and thrombocytosis, a disorder involving elevated platelets that can increase clotting risks.
  21. The defense described a needle removed bent at a ninety-degree angle. Pike helped staff identify a possible vein and said her arm felt as if it would burst. Randy Spivey, who witnessed the attempt, described her cooperating with the team.
  22. Physician and medical ethicist Lydia Dugdale discussed a possible IV failure that let the drug enter surrounding arm tissue. Swelling and burns fit that possibility. Nobody has confirmed the cause or how much pentobarbital reached Pike's bloodstream.
  23. The Department of Correction maintains that staff followed every step of its execution protocol. It also says the protocol allowed no additional procedures. The review must examine how a procedure the state says it followed produced this outcome.
  24. Governor Bill Lee halted executions for the rest of 2026. He called the failed attempt deeply disturbing and highly disappointing. Lee is term-limited and leaves office in January 2027. Any extension of the pause would require a further decision.
  25. Ed Stanton led Tennessee's 2022 lethal-injection review, which helped shape the protocol now under scrutiny. The attorney general's office retained him October 3 to examine the Department of Correction's actions and whether staff followed the protocol.
  26. Stanton served as U.S. attorney for western Tennessee from 2010 to 2017 and is a partner at Butler Snow. His review also considers whether the protocol needs further changes. Officials haven't announced when he'll report or committed to publishing the findings and supporting evidence.
  27. Chancellor I'Ashea Myles ordered officials to preserve evidence October 7. Her order covers the drugs and their residue, needles and IV equipment, medical records, training and personnel records, witness accounts, official communications, photographs and recordings.
  28. The obligation extends to restraints, gurneys, packaging, waste, notes, logbooks and surveillance video. Officials must also try to recover discarded material where possible. Preserving those items keeps them available for examination. Public access to the remaining execution evidence is a separate unresolved issue.
  29. Myles also set rules for attorney visits while Pike was hospitalized. Written requests had to reach the wardens at least two hours beforehand. Wardens had two hours to respond, while hospital policies continued to govern access.
  30. Corrections Commissioner Frank Strada is stepping down later in October. Lee accepted his resignation October 3. Strada still maintains that the department followed protocol, but said stepping aside served Tennesseans as the independent review moved forward.
  31. Pike remains under the death sentence imposed in 1996. She was eighteen when she tortured and killed her nineteen-year-old classmate, Colleen Slemmer, in 1995. Slemmer's family lost her, and Pike's survival leaves that conviction in place.
  32. Lee denied Pike's original clemency request September 28, before the attempt. Her lawyers renewed their request to replace her death sentence with life without parole. Lee hasn't announced a decision on that request.
  33. At the October 7 hearing, Assistant Attorney General John Ayers said there was no pending execution order. He didn't know whether the state would seek another attempt. Tennessee's Supreme Court has the authority to issue a new order.
  34. In 1947, the U.S. Supreme Court allowed a second electrocution after an accidental equipment failure. That decision was five to four. No court has decided how that precedent applies to Pike's circumstances.
  35. Death-penalty scholar Austin Sarat and medical ethicist Lydia Dugdale have discussed possible constitutional challenges. Those could involve the ban on cruel and unusual punishment and double jeopardy, which restricts repeated prosecution or punishment. Courts would have to decide those arguments.
  36. Senator Marsha Blackburn has called for Tennessee to bring back the electric chair. Changing execution methods would require its own legal and policy decisions. Pike's immediate position still depends on the renewed clemency request and any future execution order.
  37. Through October 13, Tennessee hasn't announced another execution date for Pike or a decision removing her death sentence. The rescue was delayed by authentication failures and conflicting instructions. Why the execution drugs failed remains unresolved while she continues medical care in prison.

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