A botched execution raises questions about death penalty protocols

Christa Pike is on death row in Tennessee for the 1995 murder of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer. Pike was scheduled to be executed on Wednesday night, but she was still alive after receiving two doses of a lethal injection. Now Pike is in critical condition, according to her attorneys. What do we know about what happened, and what comes next?This episode was produced by Alejandra Marquez Janse, with audio engineering by Ted Mebane. Our director is Jonas Adams.It was edited by Susanna Capelouto, Gigi Douban, Sarah Handel and Tinbete Ermyas.Our interim executive producer is Courtney Dorning.Support public media with NPR+ and enjoy perks for over 25 podcasts like this one. This show’s perks include bonus episodes and sponsor-free listening. Learn more at plus.npr.org.See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy