Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee has halted all executions for the rest of the year after the scheduled execution of Christa Pike was called off late Wednesday night.
Tennessee Governor Bill Lee has halted all executions for the rest of the year and ordered a third-party review after the scheduled execution of Christa Pike was called off late Wednesday night.
Officials said two rounds of lethal injection failed to end Pike’s life. Pike, 50, was scheduled to be executed for a murder she committed at 18 on Wednesday, Sept. 30 at 10 a.m.
Her lawyers said she was taken to a hospital after witnesses heard her snoring in the execution chamber. Witnesses also reported that the window curtains to the chamber were opened and closed numerous times.
Lee said he wants answers about what went wrong. See his full statement on the incident velow:
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.
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.
Pike was reported to be staying in the hospital as of Wednesday night as lawyers and advocates questioned the execution process.
At a media appearance at the opening of a new Goodwill campus in Nashville's Metro Center, Gov. Lee took questions about the execution and reiterated his original statement regarding the failed execution.
Gov. Lee repeated that a comprehensive third-party investigation will be conducted into what exactly went wrong, though the third party has not yet been determined.
"The people of Tennessee have determined that capital punishment is the appropriate sentence for the most heinous of crimes. The people of Tennessee expect that those sentences will be carried out in a manner that is not only legal, and constitutional, but effective and that didn't happen and I'm highly disappointed along with Tennesseans about what happened last night," he said.
He said that the investigation will determine who will be held responsible.
When asked why the execution is halted until the end of the year, and not for the case Tony Carruthers, Gov. Lee said that this case is unique in that no one knows exactly why the execution failed when protocol was followed. He said that TDOC followed the protocol, which he says has historically been successful.
When asked about the electric chair, he said he can not speak to what others think should happen, but that the state should first determine steps forward after the review. In regards to the commissioner, he said that TDOC followed the protocol exactly as outlined: "This is a processed that has been used over 100 times in this country without that outcome. We need to know why that outcome is different this time than ever before."
When asked what he would say to Christa Pike's family and the family of the victim Colleen Slemmer, Gov. Lee said, "This is a tragedy. There is no one that wanted what happened last night to happen. It shouldn't have happened. It's the most difficult of circumstances as it relates to that sentence that should have been carried out by the state. It's a tragedy and its deeply disturbing to me that this happened in this state. The people deserve better than that and we're going to make sure that happens."
