Christa Pike survived an execution attempt in Tennessee on Thursday night after receiving lethal doses of pentobarbital but not dying. This marks the first time someone has received a drug intended to be lethal but did not die.
State officials administered two doses of pentobarbital, as allowed by their execution protocol. Instead of dying, Ms Pike was reportedly left "snoring" and complaining about pain, also "kicking her feet so often that she knocked off the sheets laid on her".
After being contacted, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee authorised the execution team to stand down, and Ms Pike was taken to a hospital. Governor Lee has since called a halt to another execution scheduled in the state this year and ordered a review of what happened during Ms Pike's execution.
Robin Maher, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center, told the New York Times that this event is "the worst we’ve seen and unlike any other botched execution in the modern era … There is no precedent.”