(NewsNation) — Tennessee’s failed execution of Christa Pike made an already horrible situation even worse, Congressman Tim Burchett says.

The only woman on Tennessee’s death row, Pike survived the attempted execution by pentobarbital shots Wednesday and was later transported to an off-site medical facility. The details of her condition are not clear.

Pike, who was sentenced to death in 1996, was supposed to be executed. The 50-year-old and her then-boyfriend were convicted in the 1995 fatal beating and stabbing of Colleen Slemmer, a fellow student at a job-training program in Knoxville.

Burchett told “Katie Pavlich Tonight” that Pike doesn’t deserve any sympathy despite the botched execution.

“She tried to kill somebody else while she was in prison, tried to escape,” he said. “She’s not trying to better herself. It was just an awful situation. And the media keeps showing her crying as they’re leading her out. There’s no excuse. It shouldn’t have taken 30 years.”

Failed execution can be prevented again with re-introduction of electric chair: Burchett

The issue with Pike was the state’s second failed execution attempt in less than five months, and it came despite Tennessee having previously overhauled its lethal-injection procedures and adopting a new single-drug protocol in 2024, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.

The failure also prompted Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee to call off the state’s only remaining execution scheduled for 2026 and order a comprehensive third-party review.

Burchett believes there is only one way to prevent the issue from happening again: reinstating the electric chair, a position also supported by fellow Tennessean and Sen. Marsha Blackburn.

“It was 100 percent successful when it killed the guy I knew,” he said. “I’ve also proposed legislation for hanging. That’s what we got to look at. These things are not successful.”

Looking ahead to Pike’s fate, Burchett said he believes execution by firing squad is the best way to ensure the sentence is carried out. “Let’s get to something that works and let’s do it,” he said. “Get away from the drugs. That’s been problematic from the start.”