The execution of Christa Pike in Tennessee failed: she was injected with two lethal doses, did not die, and was taken to a hospital

Pike, 50, is the only woman on death row in Tennessee and was set to be the first woman executed in that state in over 200 years. In January 1995, when she was 18 years old, she and two other students lured 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer to the University of Tennessee campus in Knoxville, where they beat and murdered her.

Pike, who kept a fragment of her victim's skull, was sentenced to death in 1996 and Tadaryl Shipp, who was then 17, received a life sentence. The other student involved in the incident, Shadolla Peterson, testified and was granted parole.

Governor Bill Lee denied her clemency on Monday. "After careful deliberation of Christa Gail Pike's clemency request, and after a thorough review of the case, I uphold the sentence of the state of Tennessee and do not plan to intervene."

Today in the afternoon, the U.S. Supreme Court lifted the injunction imposed by an appeals court that had halted Pike's execution. In a 6-3 decision, the highest court determined that the execution could proceed before midnight. Left-leaning justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, and Ketanji Brown Jackson opposed this penalty.