Tennessee halts executions after death row inmate Christa Pike survives hers

Tennessee Governor Bill Lee announced a halt to all executions for the rest of 2026 after two failed lethal injection attempts on death row inmate Christa Pike. Pike, sentenced in 1996 for the murder of Colleen Slemmer, survived the second injection and was hospitalized. The governor has ordered an independent review of the execution procedures, with Tennessee officials defending their protocol. This marks the second failed execution attempt in Tennessee in 2026.