Christa Pike execution attempt sheds light on states' use of death penalty - USA Today

The botched execution of death row inmate Christa Pike in Tennessee has revived public debate over the use and the methods of the death penalty in the United States.

Pike, 50, was intubated, on a ventilator and unconscious in a Nashville-area hospital after surviving two rounds of pentobarbital injections during her botched execution Sept. 30, her attorneys said in court filings. She remained in critical condition as of Oct. 2.

Pentobarbital is a powerful sedative that acts as a central nervous system depressant. Her attorneys said in court filings that the IV team used at least seven needles in their attempts to access Pike's veins and that one of them was bent in a 90-degree angle when it was removed.

During the process, "she could be heard crying, whimpering, and breathing loudly," they said. News media witnesses reported that at one point, Pike said: "My arm feels like it’s about to burst open."

It's unclear why the injections failed but Pike's attorneys believe that the IV lines were incorrectly placed and that the pentobarbital missed Pike's veins and instead entered soft tissue in her body.

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee has called for an independent investigation into what happened and halted the remaining execution in the state this year. 

In the wake of Tennessee's second botched execution in four months, USA TODAY has reviewed use of the death penalty in the United States. Here is what we found.

Lethal injections were proposed as a supposedly more humane alternative to executions than electrocution, lethal gas, hanging and firing squads.

Oklahoma was the first state to authorize lethal injection as an execution method in 1977. However, Texas was the first to use it, for the Charlie Brooks execution in December 1982.

Other states soon followed. About 44% of executions in 1989 were by lethal injection, according to the Justice Department’s Bureau of Justice Statistics. The share rose to 96% in 1999.

From 1977 to Sept. 29, 2026, lethal injections have been used in about 89% of all executions in the United States.

Source: USA TODAY Network reporting and research; Reuters; U.S. Department of Justice; deathpenaltyinfo.org