Krista Peck was in critical condition Thursday and was receiving “life-saving care” at a hospital, her attorney said. A day earlier, Tennessee’s governor attempted to execute her, but the results were “deeply disturbing.”
Peck, who was sentenced to death for a 1995 murder, survived late Wednesday and was taken to the hospital after taking double the dose of drugs used to execute prisoners in Tennessee.
“We don’t know much about her prognosis or her health at this time,” attorney Randy Spivey said at a news conference. “But we do know that she is alive right now.”
The failed execution, described by one death penalty expert as unprecedented, led Republican Gov. Bill Lee to order a review and indefinitely delay Pike’s execution and the only execution scheduled to take place in Tennessee this year. It also reignited debate over the state’s execution procedures, including single-drug lethal injections.
Calling the process brutal and tortuous, Spivey said he was “troubled” by what he saw as the firing squad worked to find veins of the deadly drug. He said he counted at least seven needles in her left arm.
In the effort to find the vein, Pike even suggested where they could find the vein point, he said.
“Please try it here, please try it here,” Spivey recalled her saying. “She told them over and over again to try higher on my shoulders.”
Execution failed
The state attempted to execute Pike by lethal injection, but neither the initial dose nor the backup dose of pentobarbital killed her, and she was still snoring when the execution chamber microphone was cut off more than an hour later. She was subsequently taken to hospital for treatment.
At one point during the execution, she asked prison officials if her arm was supposed to feel that way, but it’s unclear if it was after the first dose of the drug entered her body because officials did not disclose that information. Later, more than an hour after the surgery began and nearly 30 minutes after a backup dose of pentobarbital was injected, she could be heard snoring loudly.
Another of Parker’s attorneys, Steve Ferrell, said she worries about complications from lethal injection because she has a lifelong blood disease that would make it difficult to get a needle into her veins. “Throughout her life, she kept explaining to us that she had trouble drawing blood,” he said.
Ferrell said it’s likely the IV line didn’t enter her vein properly and the drug filled her arm instead of entering her bloodstream.
Her lawyers called for a reduced sentence, saying what she endured on Wednesday amounted to torture.
May Martinez, whose daughter was murdered by Pike and her boyfriend, traveled to Nashville to watch the execution and told NBC News it was “a mess.”
Pike, 50, was sentenced to death for a murder he committed when he was 18. She would be the first woman to be executed in Tennessee in more than 200 years.
An appeals court halted the lethal injection an hour before it was scheduled to begin, but the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the decision hours later.
This is the second time this year that Tennessee has failed to complete an execution. In another case, officials could not find a suitable vein to administer an intravenous injection, so the drug was not injected.
Governor pauses another execution in 2026
A death penalty expert called the failure unprecedented, leading Gov. Bill Lee to order a review and indefinitely delay Pike’s execution and the only execution scheduled for this year in Tennessee. It also reignited debate over the state’s execution procedures, including single-drug lethal injections.
“There are almost no answers this morning. It’s still very early,” Lee told reporters Thursday at an unrelated event, noting that he had received no update on Parker’s condition. “The people of our state deserve answers to these questions.”
He called what happened “deeply disturbing” and said prison staff appeared to have followed procedures.
Pike, 50, was scheduled to be executed Wednesday morning for a slaying she committed when she was 18, making her the first woman to be executed in Tennessee in more than 200 years. An appeals court halted the execution an hour before it was to begin, but the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the stay hours later.
Pike’s attorneys said in court documents filed late Wednesday that officers gave Pike two doses of pentobarbital. The drug has been used in several state and federal executions, but there are concerns it could cause “unnecessary pain and suffering.”
The Tennessee Department of Corrections said in a statement that it “followed every step of the state’s legal, established enforcement protocols” approved by the Attorney General’s Office.
Tennessee changed its enforcement approach two years ago
Tennessee announced in 2024 that it would move from a three-drug series used in lethal injections to a single drug, pentobarbital. More than two years ago, the state abruptly halted the execution of Oscar Smith and admitted failing to ensure its lethal injection drugs were properly tested.
Robin M. Maher, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center, said Pike’s experience was “unique and unparalleled” because she survived long enough to be transferred to a hospital.
She said seven other people survived because execution teams failed to gain access to intravenous injections of lethal injection drugs, but none survived after receiving the drugs used in executions.
The number of executions in the United States has fallen sharply since the early 2000s amid growing public opposition and concerns about costs and the drugs used. But the number of executions nearly doubled last year, with Florida recording a record number of executions.
Pike will be the 30th person executed in the United States this year.
Pike is awake in the execution chamber
Pike was strapped to a gurney in the execution chamber and said he was calm.
When asked if she had any last words, Pike said several, including “I’m at peace. I’m ready to be free… It’s a happy day.”
But she remained awake and at one point complained about the feeling in her arm. The room’s curtains were closed, indicating that five minutes had passed since the first dose was administered. But it reopened three minutes later.
An hour after officials first opened the curtains, witnesses reported that a second dose of pentobarbital was administered. Until the microphone was cut off after nearly 30 minutes, Parker could still be heard snoring behind the closed curtains.
Pike’s attorneys filed an emergency motion with the Tennessee Supreme Court seeking an immediate halt and stay of execution, saying she was subjected to “unnecessary suffering” and that the procedure violated her right not to be subjected to cruel and unusual punishment during execution. They also filed motions in two other courts.
Last May, Tennessee officials canceled the lethal injection of Tony Carruthers. The executioners of Tony Carruthers, convicted of kidnapping and killing three people in 1994, tried for more than an hour but failed to find a suitable vein for a backup IV.
Pike has not denied her role in the murder
Parker and her boyfriend were convicted of stabbing to death 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer, a classmate. The killing sparked fears of Satanism because of the pentagram carved on Slimer’s body.
Parker’s boyfriend was not eligible for the death penalty because he was 17 at the time of the killing and was sentenced to life in prison. He was denied parole last year.
Pike has not denied that she helped kill Slimer, but supporters say Pike’s age at the time of the murder, her mental illness and her allegations of aggravated sexual abuse should be taken into consideration. After the homicide, she was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder.
“It took me many years to realize the gravity of what I had done,” she once said.
Associated Press writers Jeffrey Collins in Columbia, South Carolina, Ed White in Detroit, Russ Bynum in Savannah, Georgia, Hallie Golden in Seattle, Hannah Schoenbaum in Salt Lake City and John Seale in Toledo, Ohio, contributed.