A Tennessee death row execution went badly wrong last night when Christa Pike, the only woman on the state's death row, was left alive and snoring after two lethal doses.

Pike, 50, was taken to the chamber at Riverbend in Nashville. Witnesses said the curtain closed twice, press were told to leave, then lawyers filed an emergency plea saying she had lost consciousness but still had a heartbeat.

The human angle is raw. Pike was 18 when she and boyfriend Tadaryl Shipp killed 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer at a job camp in 1995. The case shocked Knoxville because a pentagram was found carved into Colleen's chest.

Colleen’s mother, May Martinez, travelled from Florida to watch and told NBC News it was a mess. Pike has spoken of severe childhood sexual abuse and mental illness and said she meant to beat, not kill. Shipp was 17, so was spared death and remains in prison.

Pentobarbital should stop breathing, then the heart, but experts say vein access failed and drug levels never rose enough.

Tennessee protocol allows a second set of syringes but says nothing about what happens after that. Governor Bill Lee has ordered a full third-party review and paused the last execution planned for this year. It is not the first time; in May, another execution was halted over vein issues.

Pike was sentenced in 1996 and was one of the youngest women ever sent to death row in America. Since 1976, only 18 women have been executed in the US versus 1663 men, around one percent.

#Tennessee #ChristaPike #DeathPenalty #TrueCrime #USJustice #CBInews