What We Know About Christa Pike's Halted Tennessee Execution

Christa Pike, the only woman on Tennessee's death row, appeared to still be breathing roughly an hour after the state administered lethal drugs Wednesday night, according to multiple witnesses, prompting Gov. Bill Lee to order a third-party investigation and halt the state's one remaining scheduled execution for the rest of the year, ABC News reported.

What happened inside the execution chamber?

Witnesses said authorities administered two rounds of pentobarbital, the sedative Tennessee uses for lethal injection, but Pike could still be heard breathing and snoring loudly even after curtains were drawn across the chamber window. Tori Gessner, a reporter with ABC Nashville affiliate WKRN who has witnessed five prior executions in the state, said "nothing about today was normal, typical -- at all," according to ABC News. Witnesses were escorted out of the viewing area at 8:53 p.m. local time while Pike was still audibly breathing, and an ambulance with flashing lights was later seen leaving Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville. Pike was taken to a nearby hospital; the Tennessee Department of Correction had not confirmed her condition as of early Thursday, per ABC News.

Who is Christa Pike and what was she convicted of?

Pike, 50, was sentenced to death for the 1995 murder of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer. Her execution would have been the first of a woman in Tennessee in 200 years, according to ABC News.

What did Gov. Bill Lee order in response?

"Carrying out a lawfully imposed sentence is among the State's most serious responsibilities, and the people of Tennessee expect it to be done in a manner that is not only legal and constitutional, but is effective," Lee said in a statement cited by ABC News. He added: "I have ordered a comprehensive, third-party review to determine exactly what occurred. Therefore, the remaining scheduled execution will not be carried out this year."

What role did the Supreme Court play beforehand?

The attempted execution followed a string of last-minute legal challenges. Earlier Wednesday, the U.S. Supreme Court voted 6-3 to lift a lower court's stay, granting Tennessee's request to proceed before Pike's death warrant expired at midnight local time. ABC News reported the majority did not explain its reasoning.

What are Pike's attorneys saying went wrong?

Randy Spivey and Kelly Gleason, attorneys for Pike with the Tennessee Office of the Post-Conviction Defender, said they had not been told her condition after she was hospitalized.

"Tonight the State of Tennessee once again failed to carry out a lawful execution. We take no pleasure in being right, but the concerns raised by Ms. Pike proved to be true: difficult vein access, blown veins, degraded pentobarbital, no emergency medical care available when things inevitably go wrong, all under a protocol that remains veiled in secrecy," Spivey and Gleason said, according to ABC News.

What happens next?

Tennessee's one remaining scheduled execution for the year will not proceed while the state conducts its review, Lee said. The Department of Correction has not released further details on Pike's medical condition or on what the investigation will examine, leaving unanswered questions about the drug supply, insertion attempts, and emergency response protocols that her attorneys flagged before Wednesday's proceeding.