Tennessee probes failed Christa Pike execution as retrial fight looms
What's next: State executions are paused for the rest of the year while courts and Gov. Bill Lee weigh Pike's fate.
Tennessee is investigating why death row inmate Christa Pike survived an execution attempt after receiving two doses of pentobarbital, leaving the state to decide whether it can try to put her to death again. A judge ordered officials to preserve evidence tied to the procedure, and Gov. Bill Lee suspended the state's remaining executions this year while an independent review proceeds. Pike's lawyers want her sentence reduced to life without parole, arguing her medical condition and possible brain damage could block another execution. State lawyers told a court that the Tennessee Supreme Court would decide any new execution date.