Tennessee suspends death-penalty executions through year-end after failed lethal injection

Tennessee’s governor, Bill Lee, announced an immediate suspension of all death-penalty executions, a measure that will remain in effect through the end of the year. The decision follows a failed lethal-injection attempt on Christa Pike, who survived the drugs administered during her scheduled execution. Pike, convicted of murder at age 18, would have been the first woman executed in the state in 200 years.

Earlier on the day of the planned execution, a court briefly lifted a stay to allow the execution to proceed, but the Supreme Court later reinstated it after the botched attempt. Lee said the pause will give authorities time to review what went wrong. The halt also covers another execution that had been slated for later this year.