Republican and Democratic lawmakers are calling for death penalty reform and legislative oversight after the state of Tennessee tried and failed Wednesday to execute a death row inmate for the second time in five months.

State Sen. Tom Hatcher, a Maryville Republican, said Thursday he supports Gov. Bill Lee’s order for a hold on executions and third-party review after the state botched Christa Pike’s execution but that lawmakers are going to have to “step forward” during the next legislative session in January to change death penalty laws.

“We may look at several other things instead of just lethal injection,” said Hatcher, a Maryville Republican who chairs a Senate corrections subcommittee. “I think we’ve got to look at alternative ways.”

Quotation

The Department of Correction says it followed every step of its protocol. If that is true, then the protocol itself is a problem.

– Sen. Raumesh Akbari, D-Memphis

​Hatcher was among a group of eight Republican state senators who called for the independent review of death penalty protocol following the failed execution of Tony Carruthers in May.

​State Senate Minority Leader Raumesh Akbari, a Memphis Democrat, and state Rep. John Ray Clemmons, a Nashville Democrat and the party’s House caucus chair, both called the failed execution process “cruel” and “inhumane,” and urged change.

​”The Department of Correction says it followed every step of its protocol,” said Akbari in a statement. “If that is true, then the protocol itself is a problem. The governor’s third-party review is a start, but it is no substitute for oversight. It is time for the General Assembly to exercise its oversight function over the executive branch.”

​Lee stepped to stop Carruthers’ execution when physicians tried and failed for more than an hour to insert intravenous lines to begin the lethal injection process. On Wednesday, Lee stopped the execution of Pike after two failed rounds of the lethal injection protocol.

When Pike’s execution failed, ​Lee put a pause on all executions in Tennessee until the end of 2026 and started a third-party review.

Tennessee death row inmate Christa Pike receiving medical care after failed execution

The governor said Thursday it’s his job to carry out the sentence since Tennesseans have determined that the death penalty is the appropriate penalty for the state’s most heinous crimes.

​“It’s exactly why we will have a thorough, comprehensive review of what happened, so that we can know the answers that so many people want,” Lee said. “There are very few answers this morning. It’s very early. There are a lot of questions. The people of our state deserve to have those questions answered. And that’s what this investigation’s for.”

​Lee paused all executions in 2022, after questions arose about the effectiveness of the state’s lethal injection protocol. The state restarted executions in 2025 and executed three death row inmates in 2025 and another in August.

​Pike would have been the first woman put to death by Tennessee in more than two centuries. Her lawyers confirmed Thursday she was in critical condition and receiving life-saving medical care at a hospital.

Sam Stockard contributed to this report.

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