The Mega Bullhorn of Truth • Brian Hornback

September 30, 2026, will be remembered as a night when the State of Tennessee attempted to carry out a lawful death sentence — and failed.

And when the State fails at something this consequential, Tennesseans deserve answers.

Christa Gail Pike was scheduled to be executed Wednesday evening at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville for the 1995 murder of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer in Knoxville.

The execution did not go as planned.

Pike was administered two doses of pentobarbital, yet she remained alive. Witnesses reported that she was still breathing and making sounds, including what was described as snoring. She was ultimately transported to an outside medical facility.

And now the State of Tennessee is left having to explain exactly what happened inside that execution chamber.

THIS IS NOT SIMPLY A DEATH-PENALTY DEBATE

Let me be clear.

This article is not an attempt to relitigate the murder of Colleen Slemmer.

Colleen was 19 years old when she was brutally murdered in Knoxville in January 1995. Her family has lived with that loss for more than three decades.

That pain cannot be erased.

But tonight’s questions are about something else:

Did the State of Tennessee successfully carry out a lawful sentence according to its own established procedures?

The answer, at this moment, is clearly no.

And that demands accountability.

TDOC: “WE FOLLOWED EVERY STEP”

The Tennessee Department of Correction issued a statement late Wednesday night defending its actions.

TDOC said it:

“followed every step of the State’s lawful, established execution protocol approved by the Attorney General’s Office.”

TDOC further stated:

“The lethal injection chemical in the protocol has consistently been effective, and the protocol does not allow for additional procedures beyond what was carried out this evening.”

Pike was transported to an off-site medical facility following the failed execution attempt.

Those are significant statements.

But they also raise significant questions.

If every step of the protocol was followed, why did the execution fail?

If the lethal-injection chemical has “consistently been effective,” why was it not effective tonight?

And if the protocol does not permit additional procedures when something goes wrong, what exactly is the State’s contingency plan when something goes wrong?

Those are not anti-death-penalty questions.

They are questions about government accountability.

PIKE’S LEGAL TEAM: “TONIGHT THE STATE OF TENNESSEE ONCE AGAIN FAILED”

Pike’s attorneys offered a dramatically different account.

In a statement, her legal team said:

“Tonight the State of Tennessee once again failed to carry out a lawful execution.”

Her attorneys also pointed directly to concerns they say had previously been raised by Pike.

They cited:

“difficult vein access, blown veins, degraded pentobarbital, no emergency medical care available when things inevitably go wrong, all under a protocol that remains veiled in secrecy.”

Those are allegations from Pike’s legal team — not established findings.

But they are allegations that cannot simply be dismissed now that Gov. Bill Lee has ordered an independent review.

Because the State now has an obligation to determine what actually happened.

AND THAT IS WHERE THE GOVERNOR’S ACTION MATTERS

Gov. Bill Lee issued a statement that perhaps best summarizes the responsibility facing Tennessee tonight.

He said:

“Carrying out a lawfully imposed sentence is among the State’s most serious responsibilities, and the people of Tennessee expect it to be done in a manner that is not only legal and constitutional, but is effective.”

And then came the action:

Lee ordered a comprehensive, third-party review to determine exactly what occurred.

That review is necessary.

Not because the State should automatically accept the allegations made by Pike’s attorneys.

Not because TDOC’s explanation should automatically be accepted without question.

But because we need the facts.

MY CONNECTION TO THIS CASE GOES BACK TO 1995

For those who may not have watched The Brian Hornback Experience Episode 122, my interest in this case isn’t something that suddenly developed because Christa Pike was scheduled for execution.

It goes back to January 1995.

Just 11 days after Colleen Slemmer was murdered, I was appointed by the Knox County Commission to serve on the Knox County Jail Inspection Committee.

I served alongside Patsy McClure and Owen Seay, with Patrick Fitzsimmons serving as an alternate.

That committee was created in response to a federal court order concerning overcrowding in the Knox County jail system.

And during my time serving on that committee, I had more than a few rare interactions with Christa Pike and the Knox County jail system.

That history is why I felt compelled to discuss this case in Episode 122.

I wasn’t sitting outside this story looking in.

I was a young Knox County citizen who found himself appointed to a committee dealing directly with the jail system during the same period in which this horrific murder occurred.

More than 31 years later, the case has come full circle in a way nobody could have predicted.

I discussed that history — the case, that period in Knox County, my service on the Jail Inspection Committee and my own interactions connected to Pike — in Episode 122 of The Brian Hornback Experience.

Watch Episode 122 here:
The Brian Hornback Experience – Episode 122

The companion article published before the scheduled execution also documented that history.

NOW WE HAVE TWO VERY DIFFERENT STORIES

That’s the part that cannot be ignored.

TDOC says: the State followed every step of its lawful execution protocol.

Pike’s legal team says: the execution failed because the very problems they warned about — including vein access and the condition of the drug — occurred.

Gov. Lee says: a comprehensive, third-party review is necessary to determine exactly what happened.

Those three positions can all be reported without pretending we already know the final answer.

And frankly, we don’t know the final answer yet.

That is precisely why the investigation matters.

TENNESSEE HAS ALREADY HAD ANOTHER FAILED EXECUTION THIS YEAR

This also cannot be viewed in isolation.

In May 2026, Tennessee abandoned its attempt to execute Tony Marlow Carruthers after medical personnel were unable to establish IV access. That procedure reportedly continued for more than an hour before being abandoned.

Then, in August, Tennessee successfully carried out the execution of Anthony Darrell Hines.

Now, just weeks later, the State has experienced another failed lethal-injection execution attempt.

That sequence makes the third-party review even more important.

The question is not simply what happened to Christa Pike on September 30.

The question is:

Is there something about Tennessee’s execution process that needs to be examined, corrected or changed?

Only a serious, independent review of the facts can answer that.

THE “SECRET” PROTOCOL QUESTION

Pike’s attorneys described Tennessee’s execution protocol as being “veiled in secrecy.”

That is a serious allegation.

At the same time, the State maintains that it followed an established protocol approved by the Attorney General’s Office.

So let’s have the review.

Let’s determine what portions of the protocol can appropriately be made public.

Let’s determine what chemicals were used, whether they were properly stored and tested, whether the medical equipment functioned as intended, whether IV access was properly established, what happened after the first dose, what happened after the second dose, and what options were available to the execution team when the procedure did not produce the expected result.

And let’s determine whether the existing protocol adequately addresses an emergency.

These aren’t unreasonable questions.

They are exactly the questions a comprehensive review should answer.

THIS IS ABOUT THE CREDIBILITY OF GOVERNMENT

I have spent decades involved in public service, Republican Party activism, local government and civic affairs.

One thing I’ve learned is that government earns public trust by being willing to answer difficult questions — especially when something goes wrong.

Tonight something went wrong.

The State attempted to carry out a sentence imposed by a court.

It did not happen as planned.

The Governor has acknowledged that fact by ordering an outside review.

Now let’s let that review happen.

Let’s follow the evidence.

Let’s hear from the people who were actually in the execution chamber.

Let’s examine the medical evidence.

Let’s examine the drug.

Let’s examine the protocol.

Let’s examine the equipment.

Let’s examine the decision-making.

And then — tell the people of Tennessee exactly what happened.

CHRISTA PIKE IS NOT THE ONLY PERSON WHO MATTERS IN THIS STORY

There is Christa Pike.

There is the State of Tennessee.

There are the correctional employees and medical personnel involved.

There are the courts.

There are the victims’ family members — particularly those who have carried the pain of Colleen Slemmer’s murder for more than 31 years.

And there are the people of Tennessee.

Every one of those people deserves facts.

The horrific nature of the crime does not eliminate the State’s responsibility to conduct an execution lawfully and competently.

Likewise, the failure of an execution does not erase the horrific nature of the crime or the suffering of the victim’s family.

Both realities can exist at the same time.

THE BOTTOM LINE

September 30, 2026, was supposed to be the day Tennessee carried out the death sentence imposed upon Christa Gail Pike.

Instead, Tennessee found itself confronting an execution that did not work as intended.

TDOC says it followed the protocol.

Pike’s attorneys say the State failed and that concerns they raised beforehand became reality.

Gov. Bill Lee has ordered a comprehensive, third-party review.

Good.

Now let’s get the answers.

No political spin.

No predetermined conclusions.

No hiding behind bureaucratic language.

Just the truth.

Because when the State of Tennessee takes on the responsibility of carrying out the ultimate punishment, the people of Tennessee have every right to expect that government to get the facts right, tell the truth about what happened, and be accountable when something goes wrong.

That’s what this review should deliver.

And that’s what the Mega Bullhorn of Truth will be watching for.

— Brian Hornback
The Mega Bullhorn of Truth
The Brian Hornback Experience