Tennessee Death Row Inmate Weeks Away From Execution Scores Major Break After Christa Pike's Botched Lethal Injection
Gary Wayne Sutton's execution was paused after Christa Pike's was botched.
Oct. 8 2026, Published 10:25 a.m. ET
Tennessee inmate Gary Wayne Sutton, who was sentenced to death for murdering his friend and his friend's sister, won't be executed this year, RadarOnline.com can report.
Sutton was supposed to be put to death on December 3, but Tennessee Governor Bill Lee ordered all executions to be paused in 2026 after Christa Pike's was botched.
Another Rescheduled Execution
Sutton was supposed to be executed in 2022.
As of October 7, Sutton's execution has not been rescheduled, and it is unclear if it will be.
Sutton's death sentence date had already been changed multiple times before Pike's attempt. Per WBIR News, the inmate was supposed to be executed in 2022, but Lee halted executions after separate concerns with lethal injection were raised.
Sutton didn't receive his new date until January 2026.
34 years after his arrest, Sutton and his supporters are still claiming he's innocent.
What Was Sutton Convicted Of?
Sutton was arrrested for the murder of his friend and sister in 1992.
Sutton and James Dellinger were arrested in 1992 for the murder of their friend Tommy Griffin and Griffin's sister, Connie Branam.
The two were found shot to death one day apart. Branam's car and body was also found burnt.
Sutton and Dellinger became suspects after eyewitnesses spotted the duo with the victims. Additionally, the same gun shells found at Griffin's crime scene was found at Dellinger's residence.
This led to the arrest of both Sutton and Dellinger.
Supporters Claim Sutton Is Innocent
Sutton has supporters fighting for his exoneration.
But Heather Cohen, a private investigator Sutton's supporters hired, sees things differently. Cohen spoke to a key witness in the trial, Barbara Gordon, who told authorities at the time she saw Dellinger's truck near where Griffin was killed.
"One of the first things (Barbara) said to me was she had lost sleep because she was not sure that the white truck she saw that day was James Dellinger's. She felt, more or less, they put words in her mouth," Cohen said, according to WBIR News.
Carolyn Miller, Sutton's then-girlfriend, has also been advocating for his release. She's alleged that she was with Sutton when Griffin was reported missing, so he couldn't have done it.
Additionally, after hearing the facts of the case, politicians like State Sen. Page Walley have asked Bill Lee to reconsider Sutton's punishment.
Inside Christa Pike's Botched Execution
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Pike's execution was botched on September 30.
Tennessee attempted to execute Pike via lethal injection on September 30, but after two lethal doses of pentobarbital, the 50-year-old was still breathing.
Officials transported Pike to the hospital, where she was on a ventilator for almost a week.
On October 6, Pike woke up, but her lawyers say she can't swallow or move her hands and arms, and that she has a blood clot and pneumonia. Pike's attorneys also said her hands and arms are "tremendously swollen," and they're unsure when or if she'll be able to use them again.
Shortly after the execution failed, Tennessee Department of Correction Commissioner Frank Strada resigned.
Before the incident occurred, Pike's defense team requested she be executed via hanging or a female firing squad as they feared this exact situation would occur. The inmate struggled with thrombocytosis, which causes excess blood platelets. This makes the veins harder to locate and increases the chance of them collapsing.
During the attempt, media witnesses reported Pike saying she felt like her arm was going to burst. This is not supposed to occur during a lethal injection.
