Execution team members in Tennessee used about 10 needles while struggling to establish intravenous (IV) lines in death-row inmate Christa Pike’s arms before her failed execution on September 30, her lawyer has said in a new court filing.The team also expressed concern that some of Pike’s veins might have ruptured, or “blown”, during the process, attorney Randy Spivey wrote in the document filed on Thursday. The team struggled to establish the lines and had difficulty pushing saline through the final IV site, according to his account.Pike, 50, survived two doses of the lethal drug pentobarbital during the attempted execution. She was taken to hospital and placed on a ventilator for several days before regaining consciousness and eventually returning to prison.The filing provides the most detailed account yet of the problems inside the execution chamber and has renewed questions about Tennessee’s lethal injection procedures. The reported concerns about Pike’s veins have not been independently established as medical findings. EXPLAINER · DEATH PENALTY IN THE USWhen a US Execution Fails: What Happens Next?PROCEDURE STARTSCOMPLETED HALTEDSept 30, 2026: Tennessee’s execution of Christa Pike failed. She survived two doses of pentobarbital.Discharged after ~10 days Executions paused for 2026 Outside review ordered Next step: not announcedPROTOCOLWHEN IT FAILSTRY AGAIN?PAST CASESWhat a protocol coversThe drugs Tennessee: one drug since 2024The team Who acts, who can stop itSafeguards e.g. a required backup line Time limit The death warrant can expireNo national rulebook: each state writes its own.200820152019US Supreme Court rulings went against prisoners challenging lethal injectionAP; Death Penalty Information Center; Baze v. Rees, Glossip v. Gross, Bucklew v. PrecytheTwo ways an execution can failExecution does not go as planned 7Halted before any drug Usually no usable IV line1Drugs given, prisoner survived Christa Pike, 2026No uniform process across states.Death Penalty Information Center, via APCan a state try again?8TH AMENDMENT Bans cruel and unusual punishment1947Willie FrancisUS Supreme CourtALLOWED2016Romell BroomOhio Supreme Court, 4–3ALLOWED2022Miller & SmithNot decided by US Supreme CourtUNDECIDED2026Christa PikeDrugs were givenUNTESTEDNo law explicitly bars a second attempt. It depends on the facts.AP; Supreme Court of OhioFailed attempts since 1946 1946 2009 2017 2022 2024 20261946Willie Francis · Louisiana Electric chair failed Executed in 19472009Romell Broom · Ohio No usable vein after 2+ hours Died on death row, 20202014Clayton Lockett · Oklahoma Halted after drugs given Died in the chamber2017Alva Campbell · Ohio No vein access, ~80 minutes Died on death row, 20182018Doyle Lee Hamm · Alabama Called off near midnight deadline Died in prison, 20212022Alan Miller · Alabama Failed IV attempts, 90+ min Executed by nitrogen gas, 20242022Kenneth Smith · Alabama Warrant expired before line set Executed by nitrogen gas, 20242024Thomas Creech · Idaho Eight failed IV attempts Remains on death rowMAY 2026Tony Carruthers · Tennessee Backup line could not be set One-year reprieveSEP 2026Christa Pike · Tennessee Survived two doses of drugs Executions paused for 2026 Halted before drugs Halted after drugs Electric chairTap a dot. Not a complete list.Death Penalty Information Center; APSources: Associated Press; Death Penalty Information Center; Supreme Court of Ohio (State v. Broom, 2016); US Supreme Court rulings.Express InfoGenIECreated by Aniruddha DharWhat happened after the execution attempt?Pike was scheduled to be executed for the 1995 murder of her classmate, Colleen Slemmer, who was 19 at the time. Pike was 18 when she tortured and killed Slemmer, with the help of her then-boyfriend, Tadaryl Shipp and another friend.Slemmer was attacked with a box cutter, and a pentagram was carved into her chest. Part of her skull was also removed. Pike was sentenced to death, while her boyfriend Shipp received a life sentence.Under Tennessee’s execution protocol, a second dose of pentobarbital is administered if the first dose fails to cause death. The protocol does not specify what officials should do if the inmate survives the second dose, as per Reuters’ report.Story continues below this adAfter Pike was taken to hospital, her condition was serious enough that her lawyers feared she might not survive. She eventually regained consciousness and was returned to prison following her discharge.Questions raised over procedureThe botched execution has renewed scrutiny of Tennessee’s lethal injection procedures. The latest court filing was submitted as part of a separate legal challenge by people on the state’s death row against the way Tennessee carries out executions.The difficulties in IV lines, along with the uncertainty over what happens when two doses fail to cause death, have drawn attention to the state’s execution protocol.Pike’s case has also raised questions about whether the circumstances of her childhood and her age at the time of the murder were considered during her trial and sentencing.Story continues below this adLawyers on troubled childhoodBefore the execution attempt, Pike’s lawyers had sought clemency, arguing that details of her childhood were not considered by the jury that sentenced her to death. United Nations human rights experts had also called for the execution to be halted.Her clemency petition mentioned sexual abuse in her childhood, neglect and abandonment. According to a BBC report, forensic psychologist Dr Diana McCoy, hired by Pike’s defence team in 1995, found that she had suffered severe neglect from both parents.Pike’s lawyers argued that if she had committed the same crime as a teenager under today’s legal standards, she would not have received the death penalty.Pike has not denied her role in Slemmer’s killing. But her team has maintained that information about her childhood, which was not presented to the jury, should have been considered when deciding her sentence.