在纳什维尔的里弗本德最高安全级别监狱，克里斯塔·派克在被注射致命药物后，仍持续呼吸了近一个小时。
Christa Pike continued breathing for nearly an hour after she was administered lethal drugs in Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville.
周三晚些时候，田纳西州试图对克里斯塔·派克执行死刑，却出现了诸多混乱状况。这类情况属于专家所称的“执行失败案例”。
The chaotic developments that unfolded late Wednesday when the state of Tennessee sought to carry out a death penalty for Christa Pike fall under a broad category that experts call botched executions.
虽然这一术语并无官方定义，但学术界将其描述为偏离既定执行程序、出现意料之外的问题或延误从而导致囚犯遭受不必要痛苦，或是反映出行刑人员严重失职的死刑执行过程。
While there is no official definition for the term, academics have described them as executions that departed from official protocol, involved unanticipated problems or delays that caused unnecessary pain for the prisoner, or that reflected gross incompetence from the executioner.
派克在接受了两轮致命药物注射后依然呼吸不止，最终州政府不得不中止执行程序，并将她送往附近医院救治。周三晚些时候，她的律师称尚未收到关于她病情的最新消息。以下是倡导团体与观察人士认为属于“执行失败”的典型案例：托尼·卡鲁瑟斯：今年5月，被定罪的杀人犯托尼·卡鲁瑟斯原本即将被执行死刑。然而由于执行过程出现失误，田纳西州州长比尔·李批准对其暂缓执行一年。
Pike continued breathing for nearly an hour after she was administered two rounds of lethal drugs, leading the state to halt her execution and take her to a nearby hospital for treatment. Her lawyers said late Wednesday they had not been updated on her condition. Here are some of the most recent high-profile executions that advocacy groups and observers say were botched. Tony Carruthers, May Convicted murderer Tony Carruthers was granted a one-year reprieve by Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee (R) after authorities botched his lethal injection in May.
卡鲁瑟斯原定在里弗本德最高安全级别监狱被执行死刑——该监狱正是此前计划对派克执行死刑的场所。
Carruthers was due to be executed at the Riverbend Maximum Security Institution — the same Nashville prison where Pike’s sentence was to be carried out.
州惩教部门称，医护人员虽为卡鲁瑟斯建立了主静脉输液通道，却未能按照州内死刑执行规程建立起备用通道；后续尝试也以失败告终，最终执行被迫取消。
The Department of Correction said medical personnel had established a primary IV line for Carruthers but were not able to establish a backup line as required by the state’s execution protocol.
卡鲁瑟斯的辩护律师玛丽亚·德利贝拉托描述称，当时卡鲁瑟斯痛苦地呻吟着，身上还有出血现象。
A subsequent effort failed and the execution was called off. An attorney for Carruthers, Maria DeLiberato, described how he had groaned in pain and bled.
此案还促使医疗专业人士敦促李暂停执行死刑，称该程序不符合法律、规程“或基本人道”。安东尼·博伊德，2025年 博伊德于2025年10月在阿拉巴马州通过氮气执行死刑，氮气通过面罩输送以导致昏迷和死亡。
The case also led medical professionals to urge Lee to suspend executions, saying the process does not comply with the law, protocol “or basic human decency.”Anthony Boyd, 2025 Boyd was executed in Alabama by nitrogen gas, which is administered through a mask to cause unconsciousness and death, in October 2025.
博伊德因1993年一起谋杀案被定罪，曾在一起诉讼中试图争取暂停执行死刑，但未成功。诉讼指控氮气处决违宪，属于“残酷和不寻常”惩罚，且之前的死囚在该方式下表现出“恐惧和痛苦”的迹象。他提出改由行刑队枪决、绞刑或医疗协助死亡。
Boyd, who was convicted for a 1993 murder, had unsuccessfully fought for a stay of execution in a lawsuit alleging that nitrogen gas is unconstitutionally “cruel and unusual” and that previous death row inmates had showed signs of “terror and pain” during the method. He offered to die by firing squad, hanging or medical aid instead.
目睹执行过程的记者李·黑奇佩斯表示，博伊德剧烈挣扎反抗束缚，并深重喘息了15分钟以上。黑奇佩斯写道，从程序开始起近40分钟后，他被宣布死亡。
Journalist Lee Hedgepeth, who witnessed the execution, said Boyd violently thrashed against his restraints and took deep gasping breaths for more than 15 minutes. He was declared dead nearly 40 minutes after the process began, Hedgepeth wrote.
托马斯·克里奇，2024年 2024年2月，爱达荷州当局叫停了连环杀手托马斯·克里奇的执行，因为医护人员无法为其建立静脉通道进行注射死刑。
Thomas Creech, 2024 Authorities in Idaho stopped the execution of serial killer Thomas Creech in February 2024 after medical workers were unable to insert an IV line for lethal injection.
爱达荷州矫正部门主管乔什·特沃尔特当时表示，执行团队曾八次尝试为克里奇“建立静脉通道”，但最终他被送回牢房。
Josh Tewalt, director of the Idaho Department of Correction, said at the time that the team attempted eight times to “establish IV access” to Creech, but he was eventually returned to his cell.
这次失败凸显了对注射死刑使用方式及执行人员培训的担忧。克里奇仍关押在死囚牢房。
The failed attempt highlighted concerns about the use of lethal injections and the training of those carrying out the executions. Creech remains on death row.
肯尼斯·尤金·史密斯，2022年 2022年，阿拉巴马州官员试图对雇凶杀人案罪犯肯尼斯·尤金·史密斯执行注射死刑但失败。他最终于2024年被执行死刑。
Kenneth Eugene Smith, 2022 In 2022, Alabama officials tried and failed to execute Kenneth Eugene Smith by lethal injection for his role in a contract killing. He was ultimately executed in 2024.
2022年尝试执行期间，阿拉巴马州矫正部专员约翰·哈姆当时告诉记者，狱方工作人员花费了“大约一小时”试图寻找血管建立静脉通路，在囚犯身上尝试了“多个部位”。哈姆表示，团队成功进入一条血管，但无法按注射死刑规程要求建立第二条静脉通路。
During the 2022 attempt, prison staff spent “about an hour” trying to find a vein to set an IV line, trying “several locations” on the prisoner’s body, Alabama Department of Corrections Commissioner John Hamm told reporters at the time. The team gained access to one vein, Hamm said, but was unable to establish the second IV line required by protocol for executions involving lethal injection.
到晚上11点21分，团队成员决定他们无法在午夜执行令状到期前完成规程，哈姆补充道。
By 11:21 p.m., the team members decided they would not be able to complete their protocol before midnight, when the warrant expired, Hamm added.
这是该州两个月内第二次注射死刑失败，促使共和党籍州长凯·艾维暂停执行死刑以进行审查。史密斯后来于2024年1月被执行死刑，成为已知首位通过氮气缺氧法执行死刑的囚犯。
It was the state’s second failed lethal injection in two months, and it prompted Gov. Kay Ivey (R) to temporarily pause executions for review Smith was later executed in January 2024 becoming the first prisoner known to be executed using the nitrogen hypoxia method.