Lee ‘Highly Disappointed’ in Botched Execution, Blackburn Calls for Electric Chair

Questions continue to swirl around Tennessee’s multiple failed attempts to execute Christa Pike by lethal injection on Wednesday — the second botched execution by the state this year.

Fifty-year-old Pike — the only woman on death row in Tennessee, who was sentenced to death in 1995 for the murder of Colleen Slemmer — was transported to a hospital Wednesday evening after surviving two doses of pentobarbital, the state’s lethal injection drug. She remains hospitalized as of Thursday afternoon. A last-minute appeals court ruling Wednesday morning temporarily halted the execution. What followed was nearly 12 hours of back-and-forth between courts and legal representatives before the U.S. Supreme Court permitted the execution to move forward.

Gov. Bill Lee on Wednesday called for an independent review of Pike’s execution and announced the state will postpone the year’s only remaining execution until at least the end of the year.

Christa Pike Transported to Hospital Following Two Failed Lethal Injection Attempts

An appeals court stayed Pike's execution Wednesday morning, but the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated it; the failed lethal injection is the TDOC’s second this year

Lee addressed reporters at a grand opening event for the Goodwill Middle Tennessee Opportunity Campus in Nashville Thursday, where he said he is “highly disappointed” in the failed execution attempt.

“As I've said before, carrying out a lawfully imposed sentence is among the state's most important responsibilities and most serious responsibilities,” Lee said. “The people of Tennessee have determined that capital punishment is the appropriate sentence for the most heinous of crimes. The people of Tennessee expect that those sentences will be carried out in a manner that's not only legal and constitutional, but effective. And that didn't happen.”

The governor said the state has not determined who will conduct the independent investigation into the state’s execution protocol, and it is not known how long the review will last. Meanwhile, gubernatorial frontrunner U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn said in a statement Thursday that she supports a review of the failed execution attempt. She also staunchly pushed for the state to reinstate the electric chair as an execution method.

“The answer is simple: bring back the electric chair and deliver justice for these victims swiftly,” Blackburn said. “As your governor, I will do just that.”

When asked about the electric chair and other execution methods, Lee said he “can't speak to what others think ought to happen.”

"What I think should happen, while I'm the governor, is that we should determine the steps forward,” he continued. “We should find out what happened and make those changes necessary to do what the people of this state want done.”

As the term-limited governor nears the conclusion of his time in office, it appears his successor will be the one to wield control over how future executions are carried out in Tennessee.

Tony Carruthers’ Execution Delayed After Doctor Unable to Administer IV

Gov. Bill Lee issues one-year reprieve after emergency filing with Tennessee Supreme Court

Yesterday’s mishandled lethal injection attempts follow months of scrutiny in the wake of Tennessee’s failed execution of Tony Carruthers in May. Tennessee Department of Correction Commissioner Frank Strada, who was appointed by Lee in 2023, oversaw botched executions while he served as deputy director of the Arizona Department of Corrections in 2022. When questioned about this context Thursday, Lee said, “As far as we know,” the Tennessee Department of Correction followed the new protocol approved by the attorney general’s office in 2024.

State Democrats are pushing for further oversight of the state’s execution process.

"The Department of Correction says it followed every step of its protocol,” says Senate Minority Leader Raumesh Akbari (D-Memphis) in a statement. "If that is true, then the protocol itself is a problem.

"The governor's third-party review is a start, but it is no substitute for oversight. It is time for the general assembly to exercise its oversight function over the executive branch. We will gladly work with the majority party in the interest of transparency and accountability. This should never happen again.”