Christa Pike, a 50-year-old Tennessee death row inmate, is in critical condition in hospital after surviving two doses of a lethal injection drug administered during her scheduled execution on Wednesday night.

Pike would have been the first woman executed in Tennessee in more than 200 years and was the only woman on the state's death row. Her lawyers said she required "life-saving measures" following the botched procedure.

"We don't have a sense of her prognosis or much update on her health at the moment," her attorney Randy Spivey told reporters on Thursday. "But we do know that she is alive right now."

The execution took place at the Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville. Pike was administered two doses of the sedative pentobarbital, as required by state protocol when a first attempt fails, but remained alive afterwards.

Spivey described a harrowing scene during the procedure. "Last night, the execution team attempted to establish an IV line for an hour," he said. "I counted at least seven needles used in her left arm alone, one of which appeared to be bent when it was pulled from her arm after an unsuccessful attempt."

Observers were kept behind a closed curtain after the second dose was administered. "No one knew what was going on behind that curtain," Spivey said. "I had no idea when and if medical professionals began to assist."

Pike was transported to hospital by ambulance after it was determined her heart was still beating following the procedure. Her lawyers are now seeking commutation of her sentence.

The execution proceeded after multiple last-minute legal challenges failed. A federal appeals court had temporarily halted the procedure on legal and technical grounds, but the US Supreme Court overturned that stay approximately one hour before the midnight execution deadline.

Prior to the execution, Pike had requested to be shot by an all-female firing squad rather than receive a lethal injection, citing fears the method would be too painful. Her lawyers had also argued that the injection would be particularly torturous because she has small veins. The request was denied.

Pike was convicted of first-degree murder in 1996 for the killing of Colleen Slemmer, 19, in January 1995. Pike, then 18, along with her 17-year-old boyfriend Tadaryl Shipp and 18-year-old Shadolla Peterson, lured Slemmer into a wooded area near a Job Corps vocational centre in Knoxville, where they tortured and killed her. Pike delivered the fatal blow to Slemmer's head. Shipp, who was ineligible for the death penalty due to his age, received a life sentence with the possibility of parole.

Slemmer's mother, May Martinez, who travelled to Tennessee to witness the execution, said afterwards that "it was a mess."

The Tennessee Department of Correction defended its handling of the execution, stating it "followed every step of the State's lawful, established execution protocol approved by the attorney general's office." It added that "the lethal injection chemical in the protocol has consistently been effective."

Tennessee Governor Bill Lee ordered an independent review and paused all remaining executions for the year. The pause affects the planned 3 December execution of convicted murderer Gary Sutton. Lee has not specified who will conduct the review.

"There are a lot of questions," Lee said. "The people of our state deserve to have those questions answered, and that's what this investigation is for."

The Tennessee attorney general's office said it agreed with the decision to investigate, adding: "We need to know what happened."

This is the second failed execution in Tennessee in 2026. In May, the execution of Tony Carruthers was called off after staff were unable to find a suitable vein. Carruthers was granted a one-year reprieve.

Republican Senator Marsha Blackburn, who is running for Tennessee governor, called the situation "tragic" and said the state should "bring back the electric chair." Her Democratic opponent, Jerri Green, criticised that position and said she would impose a moratorium on all future executions if elected.