Tennessee death row inmate Christa Pike has survived a botched lethal injection and regained consciousness days after execution officials attempted to put her to death. Her lawyers say she is now speaking, but remains seriously ill and has limited memory of what happened.
A convicted murderer on death row in Tennessee has survived an unprecedented execution attempt after two rounds of lethal injection failed to kill her.
Christa Pike, 50, regained consciousness in hospital several days after the failed execution on 30 September, according to her lawyer, Randy Spivey.
Spivey said Pike’s first words after waking were reportedly, “Where am I?” and “Who are you?”
Her legal team said they had believed for days that Pike was brain dead and expected doctors to withdraw life support. But on Tuesday, she unexpectedly began speaking — a development her lawyers described as a shock.
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Pike remains in critical medical care and is reportedly unable to swallow. Her lawyers say she has pneumonia, a blood clot in one arm and severe swelling in both arms.
She is also being restrained at her hands and feet while in her hospital bed, according to her legal team.
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Two rounds of lethal injection
Pike was sentenced to death for the 1995 murder of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer, whom she attacked alongside her then-boyfriend, Tadaryl Shipp.
The execution was carried out at a Tennessee prison on 30 September using pentobarbital. After two rounds of the drug failed to result in her death, authorities ultimately took Pike to hospital.
Her lawyers say Pike has only limited memories of the execution attempt.
According to Spivey, she helped members of the execution team locate a vein in her arm and remained polite while the procedure was carried out.
She later woke up in hospital with a breathing tube in her throat and surrounded by people she did not recognise.
Her lawyer said the experience had left her “angry and confused”, while warning that the long-term physical and psychological consequences remain unknown.
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Judge orders evidence preserved
The failed execution has also triggered an emergency legal battle.
During a hearing on Wednesday, Pike’s lawyers asked a Tennessee judge to order the state to preserve all evidence connected to the execution attempt.
Judge Chancellor I’Ashea Myles ordered that materials from the execution room be preserved, including IV lines, syringes and other equipment.
The order also covers waste materials such as packaging, inserts and labels, as well as documentation relating to Pike’s psychological condition before, during and after the execution.
The judge warned state officials to take special care to ensure that potentially relevant information is not lost or accidentally deleted.
Pike’s legal team believes the preserved evidence could become important in a future lawsuit against the state.
Lawyers demand greater access
Pike’s lawyers have also raised concerns about their ability to communicate with their client while she remains in hospital.
Attorney Luke Ihnen told the court that lawyers had faced significant difficulties communicating with Pike because she had been unconscious.
He asked the court to allow Pike access to a telephone so she could communicate directly with her legal team and requested what he described as “continuous liberal access” to his client.
He also complained that lawyers had been forced to wait for more than two hours during a recent attempt to visit her.
The legal team further requested that prison officials give them at least 48 hours’ notice before Pike is transferred from the hospital to another state or government-run medical facility.
Tennessee pauses executions
The failed execution has prompted Tennessee Governor Bill Lee to order a pause on executions in the state for the remainder of the year.
The governor has said he wants answers about what went wrong during Pike’s execution attempt.
The state’s prisons chief has also announced plans to resign following the incident.
During Wednesday’s hearing, the judge asked the Tennessee Attorney General’s Office whether the state intended to reschedule Pike’s execution.
Assistant Attorney General Will Ayers said he did not know the answer.
For now, Pike remains in hospital as her lawyers seek to understand exactly what happened during the failed execution and what consequences it could have for her future.
Pike was 18 when she and Shipp attacked and killed Slemmer after meeting her at a job-training camp for troubled teenagers.
Shipp was 17 at the time of the murder and therefore was not eligible for the death penalty because he was legally a juvenile. He remains incarcerated.
Pike is believed by her legal team to be the only person in the United States to survive an execution attempt involving lethal injection.
Her unexpected recovery has now placed the circumstances surrounding Tennessee’s failed execution under intense legal and public scrutiny.
