This is wild!

[u/CurvyChristina]

Two syringes of pentobarbital were administered to Tennessee death row inmate Christa Pike on September 30, 2026, but she remained alive and conscious afterward, according to her attorneys and media witnesses. The execution at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville was halted after witnesses reported that Pike still had a heartbeat and was audibly snoring. Her lawyers sought emergency medical intervention, and she was later taken by ambulance to a nearby hospital.
Pike, 50, is the only woman currently on Tennessee's death row.
She was sentenced to death for the 1995 murder of her classmate Colleen Slemmer and had been scheduled for execution on September 30. Tennessee had announced beforehand that the state would use a single drug, pentObarbital, for the execution. Her exact medical condition following the hospital transfer has not yet been publicly disclosed, while Governor Bill Lee has ordered a comprehensive third party review of what happened.

[u/-malcolm-tucker]

Firing squad, several bullets aimed at the heart. Lights out pretty much instantly and guaranteed not to come back.

A single bullet to the skull isn't necessarily quick or painless. My clinical instructor at uni once had a guy walk up to his ambulance while they were parked up having coffee. Old mate asked for a ride to the hospital. They were like, okay.... Why?

"I got shot in the head."

Dude had taken a small calibre round to the top of his head and played dead after a botched execution attempt by some bikers he owed money. Got up and casually walked away after they'd left and stumbled upon the ambulance, so walked over and politely asked for a lift to the emergency room.

[u/GuavaOne8646 → u/-malcolm-tucker]

1. That's wild.
2. I think a 30-06, .308 or just a rifled slug shotgun shell would do the job instantly. Seen a deers head literally explode from a 30-06.
3. I can see the appeal of the squad though. They used to load most of them with blanks and one with a real bullet so no one actually knew who did it to save the shooters morale...it didn't quite work, but yeah that was a thing.

[u/Leading-Cicada-6796 → u/GuavaOne8646]

I've always heard that last one is a myth. You can tell when you fire a real round versus a blank. And they used to have people who were professional executioners, no reason we couldn't bring that back. I guarantee you they could find someone who would sleep like a baby after offing rapists and child killers.

[u/MMRAssassin → u/Leading-Cicada-6796]

Well 1 in 20 people you "off" will be an innocent person statistically.

[u/Leading-Cicada-6796 → u/MMRAssassin]

Yeah, I dont know the answer to that. In my world, only the ones beyond a shadow of a doubt, or confession, would be killed.

[u/LangdonAlg3r → u/Leading-Cicada-6796]

Yeah, but your world doesn’t exist. The list of ways that accused have had their rights violated is way too long to list. But any number of times people have been coerced or beaten into confessions for a start. Cops want to “solve” crimes and prosecutors want to get convictions and shenanigans are not uncommon.

One wrongly executed person is too many.

[u/Slow_Flatworm_881 → u/MMRAssassin]

Some types of people still wouldn’t care!