Christa Pike Awake And Speaking In Tennessee Hospital After Failed Execution

Source: Tennessee Department of Corrections / Tennessee DOC

Christa Pike, the woman who survived a botched execution last week, is awake and speaking. 

NBC News reports that Pike’s attorneys announced on Tuesday that she is currently handcuffed to her hospital bed and suffered significant injuries to her arm as a result of the failed execution. Pike’s execution was called off last week after executioners administered two doses of pentobarbital that failed to kill her. Pike was on death row due to torturing and killing her classmate, 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer, in 1995. 

“At a minimum, we expect a long recovery,” attorneys Randy Spivey and Kelly Gleason said. “We are incredibly grateful to the first responders and the medical team at the hospital who treated Christa like a human and have provided exceptional care to her. We also want to thank thousands from all over the world who sent messages offering prayers and support for Christa.”

Pike’s prognosis is still unclear, and her attorneys said her arm was burned and blistered due to the failed execution. According to AP, the Death Penalty Information Center says Pike is the only person to survive after receiving lethal injection drugs during an execution.

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee canceled all remaining executions for the year and ordered an investigation into what happened. Pike’s attorneys believe that issues with the IV line caused the pentobarbital to spread into her body as opposed to her bloodstream. 

CNN reports that former Tennessee prisons chief, Frank Strada, has a history of botched executions. As an official in Arizona’s prison system, Strada raised concerns due to executioners flouting established protocol. This was also the second botched execution in Tennessee this year under Strada’s purview. 

In a statement announcing his resignation, Strada said he believed the state Department of Correction had carried out its responsibilities “in accordance with the established protocol,” but his resignation was in the “best interest of Tennesseans as the independent review moves forward.”

The fact that Strada got the job despite having a history of botched executions only drives home the impression that you don’t have to actually be good at your job to be in law enforcement.

Pike’s legal team has called for her sentence to be commuted due to the failed execution. “The least that could happen now is that we at least take death off the table and start looking for what the future could be for her,” attorney Steve Ferrell, of the Federal Defender Services of Eastern Tennessee, told CBS News.

Conversely, May Martinez, Slemmer’s mom, said that the Tennessee authorities need to “make this right” and keep Pike on Death Row. She added that, as a result of the failed execution, state officials, including Lee, “owe me big time.”

It’s unclear what happens next with Pike, because this situation is unprecedented by all accounts. 

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Tennessee Execution Fails After 2 Injections Of Lethal Drug

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