5 troubled executions before Christa Pike, from botched lethal injections to second attempts

Tennessee officials halted Pike's execution on September 30 after administering two doses of pentobarbital, a drug used in lethal injections. Pike remained alive and was transported to a hospital. She later regained consciousness. Robin Maher, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center, described the case as unprecedented because earlier prisoners had survived aborted lethal injections before the execution drugs were administered. Gov. Bill Lee subsequently paused the state's remaining executions for 2026 and ordered a review. Pike's legal future remains uncertain.

Alabama called off Miller's execution on September 22, 2022, after officials spent approximately 90 minutes unsuccessfully attempting to establish intravenous access. No lethal drugs were administered, and Miller was returned to his cell. Following litigation over the failed procedure, Alabama agreed not to attempt another lethal injection. Miller was eventually executed using nitrogen hypoxia on September 26, 2024, becoming the second person in the country executed by that method.

Just two months after Miller's failed execution, Alabama encountered similar problems with Kenneth Eugene Smith. Officials abandoned his November 17, 2022, lethal injection after struggling to establish IV access before the execution warrant expired. No execution drugs were administered. Smith survived that attempt but remained on death row. On January 25, 2024, Alabama executed him using nitrogen hypoxia, making him the first person in the United States executed by that method.

Idaho abandoned Thomas Creech's execution on February 28, 2024, after medical personnel made eight unsuccessful attempts to establish intravenous access. The procedure was stopped after approximately 58 minutes, before any lethal drugs were administered. Creech was returned to his prison cell and remained under a death sentence. The failed execution prompted further legal challenges and scrutiny of Idaho's procedures, while the state subsequently moved toward using the firing squad as its primary execution method.

Tennessee halted Tony Carruthers' execution on May 21, 2026, after officials established a primary IV line but could not insert the backup line required by state protocol. An attempt to establish a central line also failed, and no lethal drugs were administered. Gov Bill Lee granted Carruthers a one-year reprieve, leaving him on death row. Four months later, Tennessee's execution of Pike was also halted, although her case differed significantly because the lethal drugs had already been administered.

Unlike the other prisoners, Joe Nathan James Jr. did not survive his troubled execution. Alabama executed him on July 28, 2022, following a delay of approximately three hours associated with difficulties establishing intravenous access. A subsequent private autopsy documented multiple puncture wounds and other injuries, raising questions about the procedure. James' case illustrates a different outcome from the aborted attempts: despite serious complications, officials proceeded with the execution, and he was pronounced dead.