KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WATE) — Christa Gail Pike — who was sentenced to death as a teen for the brutal 1995 murder of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer — is suing Tennessee over its execution protocol.
The lawsuit alleges that the protocol is unconstitutional and will likely result in “unnecessary and superadded pain and suffering, terror, and disgrace.” It criticized the protocol, saying there will be no emergency medical services on site in case the execution is botched.
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Tennessee recently resumed executions after a multi-year review of its lethal injection protocol. In May 2025, convicted murderer Oscar Smith became the first person the state executed in five years.
“Tennessee’s new lethal injection protocol, calling for single drug (pentobarbital), is plagued with the same issues that have marked botched executions for decades: secrecy, intentional omission, inattention to detail, and untrained and unlicensed prison personnel attempting to fill medical role,” the lawsuit said…