The Aporia · Lethal injection, nitrogen, firing squads: How US states carry out executions

Lethal injection, nitrogen, firing squads: How US states carry out executions

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AFP. (2026, October 2). Lethal injection, nitrogen, firing squads: How US states carry out executions. Dawn. https://www.dawn.com/news/2034212/lethal-injection-nitrogen-firing-squads-how-us-states-carry-out-executions

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Quick Summary

The article discusses varying methods of executions across U.S. states, focusing on lethal injection, nitrogen inhalation, and firing squads. Lethal injection is the most common method, used in 39 out of 47 executions carried out in 2025. However, challenges such as pharmaceutical companies' reluctance to supply drugs for lethal injections have led some states to consider alternative methods like nitrogen inhalation or firing squads. The piece highlights several botched execution cases and raises concerns about the ethical implications and effectiveness of these methods.

Written by AI on 2026-10-02, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

Christa Pike, a 50-year-old woman who was 18 when she tortured and murdered her classmate Colleen Slemmer in 1995, survived an attempted lethal injection execution on September 30, 2026. The execution, the first of a female prisoner in Tennessee in over 200 years, went awry after Pike was given two doses of pentobarbital but did not die. She was then taken to a Nashville-area hospital where she regained consciousness and began walking again. Emergency call records obtained by the AP reveal confusion among prison staff and emergency personnel that delayed her treatment, potentially exacerbating her condition.

Pike's lawyers had warned months earlier that her medical conditions and difficult-to-access veins could make lethal injection especially dangerous, risking severe pain or prolonged suffering if something went wrong during the procedure. Despite this warning, no emergency medical services were present at the execution site to handle potential complications. The botched attempt has raised questions about Tennessee’s lethal injection protocol and its adherence to constitutional protections against cruel and unusual punishment.

Slemmer's mother wants Pike's sentence carried out but faces opposition from Pike's legal team and advocates arguing that a death sentence for a teenager with a history of sexual abuse and mental health issues is disproportionate. The execution attempt has also drawn national attention, highlighting the ethical and practical challenges associated with capital punishment in the United States.

Written for “Tennessee's First Female Execution” on 2026-11-01, grounded in this article and the 268 other(s) covering the same event.

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How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted

sentences that state something as happening or true

Uncertain

0 of 22 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")

Leaning

Leans left

of the writing, not the subject · beta estimate

Publisher signals

72/100

Dawn's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.

Outlets on this story

269

Crime & Law

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articles that frame the event the way this one does

Analyzed 2026-10-02 · how these are computed

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Source leaning vs. consistency

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Who wrote this

AFP

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Topics

Alabama South Carolina Tennessee Utah the United States

Subjects

Alabama GPE · 4× the United States GPE · 4× South Carolina GPE · 3× Porter PERSON · 2× Tennessee GPE · 2× Indiana GPE · 1× John Evans’s PERSON · 1× Ohio GPE · 1× Romell Broom PERSON · 1× Utah GPE · 1×

Narrative

Lethal injection, authorised in 28 states and at the federal level, remains by far the most common execution method since the death penalty was reinstated in the United States in 1976. Of the 47 executions carried out in 2025, 39 were by lethal injection. Five others were by nitrogen inhalation, a method first used anywhere in the world in the southern state of Alabama in 2024 and likened by UN experts to a form of “torture.”

framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-10-02

🔮 But Porter said no lasting solution would be possible until the secrecy surrounding executions was lifted.

2026-10-02 · Dawn

Lethal injection, nitrogen, firing squads: How US states carry out executions · assertive framing

Claims (22 extracted, 0 hedged)

The unprecedented botched execution of a woman in Tennessee has reignited the debate over execution methods in the United States — which varies from lethal injection to firing squads. asserted

which → botch → squads

Methods used in the US Methods vary by state. asserted

Methods → use → state

States carry out the vast majority of executions, while federal executions are rare. asserted

executions → carry → executions

others → authorise → torture

Three were by firing squad in South Carolina, marking the first use of that method in the United States since 2010. asserted

Three → mark → 2010

But some states have struggled to obtain the necessary drugs from pharmaceutical companies reluctant to be associated with capital punishment. asserted

states → struggle → punishment

This was the case, for example, in South Carolina, Utah and Indiana, which resumed executions in 2024 after suspending them for more than a decade for this reason. asserted

which → resume → reason

In terms of frequency, electrocution and gas inhalation are, respectively, most common, each authorised in nine states, followed by firing squads, a method provided for in five states. asserted

each → authorise → states

A litany of botched executions No execution method is immune to the risk of spectacular failure. asserted

method → botch → failure

In Alabama in 1983, John Evans’s leg caught fire after the first electric shock, while smoke rose from his hood and the smell of burning flesh began to fill the room. asserted

smell → catch → room

It took three shocks in all before the condemned man’s heart stopped beating. asserted

heart → take → shocks

In the northern state of Ohio in 2009, Romell Broom endured two hours of attempts by three members of the state’s execution team, who stuck needles into his arms, hands and legs 18 times in an effort to administer the lethal injection. asserted

who → endure → injection

The first condemned prisoner to survive an execution attempt in the United States since 1946, he ultimately died of COVID-19 in his cell in December 2020. Even firing squads, supposedly a more decisive method, present difficulties, Laura Porter, director of a coalition of US organisations campaigning to abolish the death penalty, told AFP. asserted

Porter → condemn → AFP

During Mikal Mahdi’s execution in South Carolina in 2025, the shooters, “missed the target of the heart, and so it took longer for [him] to die,” she said, citing the autopsy findings. asserted

she → miss → findings

Nitrogen inhalation was used “with severe, severe problems in Alabama,” and “it’s temporarily on hold,” she said. asserted

she → use → hold

“I don’t believe that there is a perfect way to kill people,” Porter said. asserted

Porter → believe → people

“Participating in execution is incredibly stressful and harmful to corrections officers,” she added. asserted

she → participate → officers

US states generally respond to the most shocking failures by imposing a moratorium to revise their execution protocols or by introducing new execution methods. asserted

states → respond → methods

Tennessee imposed a moratorium in 2022 before resuming executions by lethal injection in 2025 under a revised protocol. asserted

Tennessee → impose → protocol

Alabama tried nitrogen inhalation in January 2024 following a botched lethal injection execution in November 2022. asserted

Alabama → try → November

But Porter said no lasting solution would be possible until the secrecy surrounding executions was lifted. asserted

secrecy → say → executions

“When there are problems with protocols, or when there are problems with the drugs, or there are problems with the competency of the execution team, it is very, very difficult to obtain any information until after the problem has happened because we are given no information about the execution process,” she said. asserted

she → be → process