Death row inmate Christa Pike is conscious and speaking from a hospital bed following a botched execution attempt in Tennessee last week, according to statements released by her attorneys on Tuesday. Pike survived the state’s Sept. 30 attempt to execute her via lethal injection at the Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville and has remained hospitalized since the incident. In their statement, her attorneys confirmed she is conscious, speaking, and receiving critical medical care, though her prognosis is still unclear and a lengthy recovery is anticipated. Despite severe damage to her arms, her legal team noted that she remains handcuffed and shackled to her hospital bed. Pike received two lethal doses of pentobarbital during the procedure. Media witnesses reported that the execution was halted after it became clear she had not lost consciousness and still possessed a heartbeat, with one witness noting she could be heard snoring roughly an hour after the procedure began. She was subsequently transported to a local hospital by ambulance. Attorney Steve Ferrell stated that physicians have been working to clear the pentobarbital from her system. Pike was convicted for the 1995 murder of Colleen Slemmer, a 19-year-old former classmate. Pike was 18 at the time of the offense and was sentenced in 1996 when she was 20 years old. Her execution proceeded last week after the Supreme Court rejected a final appeal, making her set to be the first woman executed in Tennessee in approximately two centuries. Following the failed lethal injection, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee announced that Frank Strada, commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Correction, will resign. Governor Lee additionally announced the cancellation of all remaining scheduled executions in the state for the year, pending a comprehensive third-party review of the incident. In response, Pike’s legal team filed a motion in Davidson County court to preserve all evidence tied to the failed procedure. The motion alleges that corrections staff failed to notice that IV lines were improperly placed or that veins had blown, causing the pentobarbital to enter her body incorrectly. Ferrell stated that her legal team is now pursuing a commutation of her sentence, arguing that death should be taken off the table as they consider her future.
Source: cbsnews.com
