Tennessee's attempt to execute death row inmate Christa Pike by lethal injection was botched, and she survived, her attorneys said. The incident revived debate over botched lethal injections in the U.S. and echoed a May attempt on Tony Carruthers, when the state said it could not find a suitable vein. Pike's attorneys called the execution "torturous" and said they had warned it could be botched.
NYTimes – US Three-quarters of nations have rightly abolished capital punishment in law or practice, but killing by the state has surged in the US What is the kindest way to kill? That’s the question being asked once more following Tennessee’s failed attempts to execute Christa Pike for the brutal murder of a classmate, Colleen Slemmer, when she was 18. The 50-year-old was taken to a medical facility, her condition unknown, with…
Christa Pike has been discharged from hospital and returned to Tennessee prison after surviving the state's Sept. 30 lethal-injection attempt, in which two doses of pentobarbital failed to kill her. Tennessee has halted its remaining 2026 executions and ordered an independent review, prison commissioner Frank Strada has resigned, a judge has ordered preservation of execution evidence, Pike's attorneys are seeking commutation of her death sentence, and newly released 911 recordings show emergency
Grounded in 8 reports across 4 sources
Death row inmate Christa Pike survived her execution in Tennessee on Wednesday, reviving debate over a pattern of botched lethal injections in the United States.
Attorneys for Christa Pike, who survived an attempt by the state of Tennessee to put her to death, say they warned that her execution could be botched in exactly the way it was.
Three-quarters of nations have rightly abolished capital punishment in law or practice, but killing by the state has surged in the US What is the kindest way to kill? That’s the question being asked once more following Tennessee’s failed attempts to execute Christa Pike for the brutal murder of a classmate, Colleen Slemmer, when she was 18. The 50-year-old was taken to a medical facility, her condition unknown, with…
NYTimes – US In May, the state tried to execute Tony Carruthers using lethal injection drugs but could not find a “suitable vein,” its correction department said.
Sky News – World A drone strike on a market in the disputed Abyei border region killed at least 153 people, according to local officials. The attack hit a fuel depot and caused a large fire. South Sudanese officials blamed Sudan's military; Sudan's army was described by South Sudan authorities as having launched the strike. Médecins Sans Frontières said it was treating 20 wounded people.
NYTimes – US Alabama Governor Kay Ivey has commuted the death sentence of Toforest Johnson, convicted of the 1995 murder of a sheriff's deputy, to life in prison without parole. The decision followed growing doubts about Johnson's conviction, which relied partly on testimony from a woman paid a $5,000 state reward.
A former Cornell student, identified as Jane Doe, said she felt "unsupported and disbelieved" by the university's president after alleging she was gang raped at a fraternity house in 2024. Cornell denied claims made in her letter about a remark by the president.
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