Overview
- The attempted lethal injection of Christa Pike on Sept. 30 left her alive after two doses of pentobarbital and she was later hospitalized before returning to prison while receiving ongoing care.
- Newly released Metro Nashville 911 recordings show the first call from Riverbend came around 8:40 p.m. but dispatchers could not verify the caller and initially treated the report as a possible prank.
- Prison officials did not confirm the emergency until about 9:11 p.m., and ambulances and fire crews were seen entering the prison roughly three minutes later, according to the audio and eyewitness reports.
- Pike’s attorneys describe multiple failed IV attempts and injuries during the hour she spent in the execution chamber, while the Tennessee Department of Correction says it followed protocol and has not explained why she survived.
- Governor Bill Lee has paused further executions, ordered an independent review, courts have ordered preservation of execution-room evidence, and the 911 timeline is likely to factor into the expected litigation over whether another execution may be attempted.