Christa Pike Refused Last Meal And Asked Money Be Used For Homeless Before Failed Execution
Before two lethal injections failed to execute her, Christa Pike refused her last meal and requested it be given to the homeless, TMZ reports.
The 50-year-old, who has spent 30 years on death row, was offered $20 for a final meal under Tennessee rules. Instead, she asked that the money be used to buy pizza for homeless people in downtown Nashville, according to the New York Times.
Her act came just hours before her execution attempt at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution on September 30, 2026.
Two Lethal Injections Failed - She Is Still Alive
Pike was administered two full doses of pentobarbital. But she did not die.
At least seven needles were used over an hour. She complained "My arm feels like it's about to burst open" before snoring and losing consciousness.
Witnesses said she remained alive after the second dose. She was rushed to a Nashville hospital where she is now unconscious, intubated and on a ventilator in critical condition.
Experts say she is the first person in US history to survive after full execution drugs entered her body.
Governor Halts All Executions
Tennessee Governor Bill Lee has now halted the sole remaining execution this year and ordered a third-party review.
Tennessee Department of Correction Commissioner Frank Strada is set to resign after the botched execution.
Pike would have been the first woman executed in Tennessee in more than 200 years for the 1995 murder of Colleen Slemmer when she was 18.
Her lawyers are now fighting to have her death sentence commuted.
Source: TMZ, NYT, AP
