As first reported on Thursday, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee has called for an investigation into the botched execution of Christa Pike Wednesday night.
Pike was convicted of a 1994 murder, and during the execution, she receive two doses of a lethal drug. But Pike didn’t die and was taken to the hospital.
Governor Lee, at a news conference Thursday, spoke of the state’s second botched execution of the year.
When asked whether the death penalty shouldn’t be considered in his state, the governor said “The people of Tennessee have determined that the death penalty is the appropriate penalty for the most heinous crimes in this state. The people of Tennessee make that decision and my job is to make sure then that those sentences are carried out.
Governor Lee said he is also halting another scheduled execution from taking place this year.
“There is no one that wanted what happened last night to happen. It shouldn’t have happened. It’s the most difficult of circumstances as it relates to the sentence that should have been carried out by the state. I’m highly disappointed along with Tennesseans about what happened last night. I immediately took action to call for a thorough and comprehensive and third party review and investigation into the protocol. The people of Tennessee expect that those sentences will be carried out in a manner that’s not only legal and constitutional, but effective.”
