Some of Tennessee's top Republicans said they want to explore alternative ways of executing death row inmates after the failed attempt on Christa Pike.
U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn, the state's Republican candidate for governor, said Pike's unsuccessful execution by lethal injection last week "should not be grounds to halt carrying out the death penalty." Instead, she stated Tennessee needs to re-evaluate the way it does executions.
Speaking to The Associated Press Blackburn said: "If it's lethal injection, if it is electric chair, what we do know is we have to find a way to do this - and do it successfully."
Legislative leaders weigh options
Top legislative leaders have already spoken with Blackburn about potential changes to state execution laws during their 2027 session.
House Speaker Cameron Sexton stated: "We want to broaden it, include more methods." He added: "What those are as of today, I'm not sure. But I don't think there's any method that's off the table at this point."
Pike, now 50, was sentenced to death for the 1995 torture and slaying of a classmate, Colleen Slemmer. Pike was age 18 at the time and became one of the youngest women sent to death row.
Governor's response and investigation
Republican Gov. Bill Lee, whose term ends in January, halted the one remaining execution scheduled for this year. He has ordered an independent investigation into the state's capital punishment system after Pike's failed execution.
On Saturday he stated the commissioner of the Department of Correction will step down. Blackburn has stated a comprehensive change is needed surrounding the death penalty. She added: "It is personnel, processes, procedures, protocols that are all going to need to be addressed."
Electrocution as an option
Tennessee law already allows electrocution if the department is unable to carry out a lethal injection despite reasonable efforts to do so. State law also gives people who committed crimes before 1999 the option of choosing electrocution.
Between 2018 and 2020, five Tennessee prisoners chose electrocution. That could remain an option for about two dozen of the 40 people on death row. Sexton said the legislature could consider amending the law to give the state a choice of execution methods.
House Majority Leader William Lamberth said he is open to making electrocution the state's primary means of execution. Lamberth added he doesn't want any changes to take too long to implement.
He said: "We want these sentences to be carried out effectively, efficiently and humanely."
Lamberth added: "Whatever we do, I do not want it to delay justice for these victims' families."
Republican state Sen. Todd Gardenhire, chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said he expects a deliberate review of what went wrong and what can be done to improve the execution process.
He stated: "I think the electric chair is the quickest and simplest way to do it."
