Tennessee Governor Ordered to Find Out Cause of Failed Execution

Tennessee Governor Bill Lee has ordered a comprehensive investigation following the failed execution of convicted Christa Pike, the Associated Press reported. Bill Lee also abolished another death penalty this year.

Krista Gale Pike, a 50-year-old inmate, was sentenced to death for murder committed in 1995. When she was given the lethal injection twice on Wednesday, September 30, she fell asleep. According to the statement of lawyers, Pike survived, she was taken to the hospital by ambulance.

Lee said executing a legal sentence is one of the state's most serious responsibilities. Tennessee residents are counting on the legal and constitutional implementation of such procedures. The governor insisted on a "comprehensive independent review" to establish the reasons for the failure to carry out the execution.

The Tennessee Department of Corrections said it followed all steps of the protocol.

Robin M. Maher, executive director of the Center for Information on the Death Penalty, called Pike’s case a unique and unprecedented situation.

According to witnesses, Pike was brought to execution at 19:27. After the first injection, the woman remained conscious and asked if her hand should "feel this way." Exactly what she was talking about is unknown. By 20:26, Pike was injected with a second dose of the drug. Afterwards, execution witnesses heard her snoring until 20:53 until the microphone was turned off.

Pike and her boyfriend were convicted in 1995 for the murder of their classmate, 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer. After the murder, the couple carved a pentagram on Slemmer's body and left other satanic elements at the crime scene (the International Satanism Movement is recognized as an extremist organization in Russia and banned).