Jia Rizvi | Documentary Filmmaker, Director, Producer

On September 30, 2026, the state of Tennessee attempted to execute the 50-year-old Pike for the 1995 murder of Colleen Slemmer. Pike was injected with two doses of pentobarbital, both of which failed to kill her.

Medical experts and her legal team think the drug may have pooled under her skin instead of entering her bloodstream due to an IV line issue. Now, newly released 911 call logs revealed extreme confusion between prison staff and emergency services, which delayed her emergency treatment. After initially being placed on a ventilator, and advised that she may not make it, Pike woke up, began talking, and then was returned to prison on October 10. Her attorneys state she faces a long road to recovery.

She is believed to be the only person in modern U.S. history to survive a completed lethal injection attempt.

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