Tennessee woman in hospital after ‘failed’ execution
Convicted murderer Christa Pike was hospitalized after a failed execution attempt in Tennessee. Despite a Supreme Court ruling allowing the lethal injection to proceed, witnesses reported she remained alive during the procedure.
Why it matters
The incident has reignited intense national debate regarding the ethics, legality, and procedural failures of capital punishment in the United States.
Tennessee woman Christa Pike was in a hospital Thursday after authorities "failed" to carry out her execution, her lawyers said, with witnesses reporting the convicted murderer was breathing despite the injections intended to kill her.
Just hours earlier the US Supreme Court cleared the way for Pike to be the first woman to die by lethal injection in the southern US state of Tennessee in 200 years.
Tennessee corrections officials did not publicly confirm the outcome of the execution, which included two injections of pentobarbital, or respond to an AFP query seeking information.
"Tonight the State of Tennessee once again failed to carry out a lawful execution," Pike's attorneys said in a statement. "Christa is being treated at a nearby hospital. We have not been informed as to her condition."
Also covering this story
17 other newsrooms covered this event. We read each version separately.
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