A woman who was scheduled to be executed in the United States for a murder committed three decades ago was saved from death after being injected twice at a prison in Nashville, Tennessee.

A woman who was scheduled to be executed in the United States for a murder committed three decades ago was saved from death after being injected twice at a prison in Nashville, Tennessee.

Krista Pike's attorney says she was taken to the hospital.

One of her lawyers told the BBC that Ms Pike, 50, was admitted to hospital "on life-saving measures" after being injected with two pentobarbital syringes.

Eyewitnesses reported that they could still hear the woman's breathing before the officers led them away from the execution site.

The execution came after the US Supreme Court overturned a stay granted by a lower court a few hours earlier.

This court stayed the execution to determine whether Krista Pike's allegations of childhood sexual abuse were fully investigated before the death sentence was imposed.

Ms. Pike was convicted of murdering one of her classmates in 1996.

Reuters