Christa Pike’s first words after botched execution
Updated . First published at
“Where am I?”
Those were the first words death-row inmate Christa Pike said on waking up after surviving a lethal injection execution in Tennessee, according to her lawyers.
Christa Pike has regained consciousness and is able to speak after Tennessee’s failed attempt to execute her by lethal injection last week. J. Miles Cary, Knoxville News Sentinel/Imagn Images via CNN
Attorney Randy Spivey spoke to reporters outside court after a hearing that resulted in a judge ordering the state to preserve all evidence relating to the botched procedure.
“I was not in the room when she woke up, so I don’t want to speculate too much,” Spivey said.
“Well, our understanding was the first thing she said was, ‘where am I’, and ‘who are you?’”
Spivey said there was still “a lot of cognitive confusion” on Pike’s part, but she had wanted to know what had happened and had inquired about a number of people.
“She’s asked about her team ... she’s asked about the victim’s family, like she is - I think she is angry and confused about everything right now,” he said.
“The victim” refers to Colleen Slemmer, who Pike, 50, murdered when she was 18 in 1995. Slemmer’s mother had travelled to witness Pike’s execution last Wednesday.
The Death Penalty Information Centre says Pike is the only person to survive after receiving lethal injection drugs during an execution.
Pike’s attorneys attended a status hearing on the case in Nashville overnight, where they requested a court order compelling the Tennessee Department of Correction to preserve evidence in the case and provide more information.
Judge I’Ashea Myles granted the evidence order.
“In light of the evolving situation, the court will pin and grant its own order granting the motion to preserve relevant evidence,” she said.
Pike was sentenced to death for the 1995 beating and stabbing death of classmate Colleen Slemmer (pictured). AP Photo/George Walker IV
“As a primary matter, we want all drugs, syringes, IV lines, tubing, that are within the state’s possession.
“Needles, catheters, medical supplies, restraints, gurneys, anything that was in the actual room, needs to be preserved and maintained.”
Judge Myles also ordered all communications about the decision to stop the execution preserved.
However, she held off on a request to grant Pike a prison-issued tablet that would allow her to communicate with others from her hospital bed, saying she wanted more information about how the device worked and whether it could be used outside the prison system, according to CNN.
Christa Pike’s attorney Luke Ihnen sits in the courtroom before a hearing on October 7, 2026, in Nashville. George Walker IV/Pool AP via AP
Pike’s prognosis remains unclear and, at a minimum, she faces a lengthy recovery, her attorneys have said.
Pike's arms were burned and blistered after the attempted lethal injection and she is handcuffed to the hospital bed, they said.
The failed execution has renewed scrutiny over how states carry out the death penalty, in particular the use of lethal injection.
Texas was set on Wednesday to carry out the first execution in the US since Tennessee attempted to put Pike to death.
Christa Pike's recovery remains uncertain
Medical and lethal injection experts have focused on the possibility that a problem with the IV line caused the drug to pool in her tissue rather than entering her bloodstream.
Pike’s attorneys wrote in their court filing that “apparently at no point did any member of the execution team realise that the IV lines were not correctly placed or that the veins had blown.”
The attempted execution got underway around 7.30pm on September 30 (10.30am October 1 AEST) when Pike was given a chance to make a final statement. About five minutes later, Pike raised her head and said her arm was hurting.
Emergency vehicles arrived at the prison shortly after witnesses were escorted out and left about 15 minutes later. AP Photo/George Walker IV
At some point she appeared to lose consciousness, but she could be heard audibly breathing until media were escorted from the witness room at 8.53 pm (11.53am October 1 AEST).
An ambulance arrived at the prison at 9.14pm (12.14pm October 1 AEST) to take Pike to a hospital.
Dr. Joel Zivot, a professor of anaesthesiology and surgery in Atlanta who consulted as an expert for Pike’s legal team, said it could be weeks or months before anyone knows exactly what her recovery might look like, and whether her competency could be restored so the state can try again to execute her.
Reported with Associated Press, CNN.
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