[UPDATE] Judge orders Tennessee to preserve all evidence from Christa Pike's failed execution

Pike's lawyers say she has pneumonia and a blood clot, and cannot swallow or move her arms.

Nashville Chancellor I'Ashea Myles ordered Tennessee to keep all evidence from Pike's failed Sept. 30 execution: the drugs, syringes, IV lines, recordings and communications. The state must also try to recover anything already gone, as her lawyers say she has pneumonia and a blood clot, and cannot swallow or move her arms.

PREVIOUSLY

Sept. 30 — A 2-1 6th Circuit panel halted Christa Pike's execution an hour before it began; the Supreme Court lifted the stay over three liberal dissents.
Sept. 30 — Pike, 50, survived two lethal pentobarbital doses after about an hour of IV attempts; Tennessee called off its last execution of 2026.
Oct. 3 — Pike lay unconscious on a ventilator; her lawyers moved to preserve evidence, and Republican lawmakers sought a review of the single-drug method.
Oct. 4 — Corrections chief Frank Strada said he would step down, insisting protocol was followed; a former U.S. attorney will run an independent review.
Oct. 5 — Pike's lawyer asked Tennessee's governor to commute her death sentence to life.
Oct. 7 — Pike woke and began speaking; her lawyers renewed the commutation plea ahead of a court hearing.

Pike's condition and what's next:

Pike, 50, is still restrained at her hands and feet in her hospital bed.
Her lawyers say they were told on Monday, Oct. 5, that she was brain-dead; her first words were "Where am I and who are you?"
Can Tennessee try again? The state says any new execution date is up to the Tennessee Supreme Court.