Death row prisoner Christa Pike ‘conscious, speaking’ after failed execution
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US death row inmate Christa Pike is “conscious” and “speaking” following her failed execution, her lawyers say.
Pike, 50, continues to receive critical medical care while handcuffed in hospital, according to a statement from her lawyers.
US death row prisoner Christa Pike. Tennessee Department of Correction via AP, File
“Against all odds, Christa Pike is conscious, speaking, and continues to receive critical medical care,” attorneys for Pike said in a statement on Wednesday.
“Despite the severe damage she endured to her arms, she is still handcuffed and shackled to the bed. Her recovery is medically unprecedented.
“Her prognosis remains unclear but, at a minimum, we expect a long recovery.”
Her attorneys said they were grateful for the first responders and the medical team at the hospital “who treated Christa like a human and have provided exceptional care to her”.
Pike survived two doses of pentobarbital in a lethal injection procedure that took over an hour at a Tennessee prison.
Christa Pike, then aged 18, cries after being sentenced to death on March 30, 1996 in Knoxville. WBIR-TV via AP
She has been receiving life-saving care in a hospital since the failed execution last Wednesday.
Her failed execution triggered a storm of controversy in the US, with Tennessee’s Department of Corrections head Frank Strada resigning his position.
A spokeswoman for the department said on Wednesday she could provide no information other than that Pike remained hospitalised.
Pike survived the attempted lethal injection for the 1995 beating and stabbing death of classmate Colleen Slemmer.
The pentobarbital drug didn’t kill her, but her lawyers said her arms were left burned and blistered.
Joel Zivot, a professor of anaesthesiology and surgery in Atlanta who consulted as an expert for Pike’s legal team, said the development “bodes well for a good recovery”.
Emergency vehicles arrive at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution after the execution of Christa Pike was halted. AP Photo/George Walker IV
But, he added, it could be weeks or months before anyone knows exactly what her recovery might look like, and whether her competency could be restored to a level that might enable the state to try again to execute her.
“She’s still in the ICU,” he said.
“She has recovered to a certain degree that she’s able to be off a ventilator and able to speak, but in no way would I announce her free of further serious risk.
“There’s still a lot of bad things that can happen here, even when everyone is doing their job well.”
Pike’s lawyers are set to go to court on Wednesday as they seek to learn more about what happened in the failed lethal injection.
The lawyers are seeking a court order requiring the Tennessee Department of Correction to preserve evidence, including drug lot numbers, records and other information from the September 30 attempted execution.
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