Turmoil in the US following the execution fiasco: Governor freezes the procedure

Tennessee Governor Bill Lee has frozen further executions and launched an investigation after convicted murderer Christa Pike survived two lethal injections and was taken to hospital in critical condition. Her lawyers demanded the procedure be stopped, citing torture, while the victim's mother expressed fury that she had not received justice.

Tennessee Governor Bill Lee has ordered a halt to further executions in the state and launched an official and comprehensive investigation into execution procedures, following an unprecedented failure in which convicted murderer Christa Pike survived two lethal injections. Pike, sentenced to death for the torture and murder of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer in 1995, was taken to hospital in critical condition after the procedure was halted. The governor called the incident "deeply troubling and disturbing." Meanwhile, a legal battle waged by Pike's defense team while she was on the gurney has come to light: her attorney, Randy Spivey, demanded urgent access to a phone and sought to stop the procedure and provide medical care to prevent death by torture. It took half an hour before an ambulance was authorized. The victim's mother, May Martinez, who was present, said in a heartbreaking conversation with the Associated Press: "I didn't get justice for my daughter. I watched this whole thing. She was awake, moving her head, moving her legs, and trying to sit up. The first injection didn't work, the second injection didn't work, and now she's in the hospital and alive. This is really not justice for Colleen." The Tennessee Department of Correction claimed it acted according to protocol and that the chemical was proven effective, but refused to explain what went wrong.