Tennessee death row inmate Christa Pike is conscious and speaking six days after surviving a failed execution in the United States, according to her lawyers.
Pike remains in hospital receiving critical medical treatment after surviving two doses of pentobarbital during the botched lethal injection on October 1.
Her attorneys said in a statement released on Tuesday that her condition had improved, although her long-term prognosis remained uncertain.
“Against all odds, Christa Pike is conscious, speaking, and continues to receive critical medical care.”
The lawyers said Pike had suffered severe damage to her arms during the failed execution and remained handcuffed and shackled to her hospital bed.
“Her recovery is medically unprecedented. Her prognosis remains unclear but, at a minimum, we expect a long recovery.”
Pike was sentenced to death for the 1995 murder of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer and was scheduled to become the first woman executed in Tennessee in about 200 years.
Her execution was halted after prison officials reportedly struggled for about an hour to establish intravenous access for the lethal injection.
According to Pike’s attorney, Randy Spivey, execution personnel used at least seven needles while attempting to locate a suitable vein.
Spivey said Pike cooperated with the execution team and even indicated areas where they could attempt to insert the intravenous lines.
Her lawyers had previously warned Tennessee authorities that Pike had a history of difficulties with vein access.
They believe problems with the IV lines resulted in the pentobarbital entering tissue rather than being delivered directly into her bloodstream.
Pike was reportedly unconscious and placed on a ventilator following the execution attempt before being transferred to hospital for emergency treatment.
A media witness, WPLN reporter Catherine Sweeney, described the execution as highly unusual.
“None of it was normal. I covered all the executions last year, and most of the ones this year. We haven’t seen anything like it. It went really poorly.”
The Tennessee Department of Correction said the execution was carried out under the state’s approved lethal injection protocol, which permits a second injection if an inmate remains alive following the first.
Following the failed execution, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee suspended the state’s next scheduled execution and ordered an independent investigation into what happened.
Tennessee Department of Correction Commissioner Frank Strada also announced his resignation, saying his decision was in the best interest of Tennesseans as the review got underway.
The investigation is being led by former US Attorney Ed Stanton, who previously reviewed a 2022 execution and concluded that Tennessee had failed to comply with aspects of its own lethal injection procedures.
Pike’s lawyers are separately seeking a court order to preserve evidence from the execution attempt, including physical, written and electronic records.
They have also asked Governor Lee to commute Pike’s death sentence to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.
The latest development means Pike has survived an execution attempt that state authorities had intended to carry out through lethal injection, while her lawyers continue legal efforts over her treatment and sentence.
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