India, Oct. 1 -- Media witnesses to the botched execution of Christa Pike described a chaotic scene in Tennessee's death chamber after the convicted killer remained alive following two rounds of the lethal drug pentobarbital.

Pike, 50, who would have been the first woman executed in Tennessee in more than 200 years, lifted her head and asked whether the burning pain she was experiencing was normal, witnesses said. The execution was ultimately halted, and Pike was taken to a nearby hospital.

Catherine Sweeney of WPLN, a Nashville-based local news outlet, described the scene at a press briefing after the execution was put on hold.

"They went through two rounds, and she was still breathing at the end, it was very ragged, she lifted her he...