There’s a “long road to recovery” ahead for Christa Pike after a failed execution attempt by the state of Tennessee that left her unconscious and on life support.
The convicted killer has now woken up unexpectedly “angry and confused”, her lawyer confirmed on Tuesday.
Randy Spivey, her attorney, said Pike had massively swollen hands, no function in her arms, a blood clot in one of her arms and pneumonia. She was also unable to swallow and had not eaten.
The 50-year-old death row inmate was rushed to hospital last week following two doses of the lethal injection drug pentobarbital. Pike had been sentenced to death for the torture and murder of a classmate, Colleen Slemmer, in 1996. She committed the crime when she was 18 years old.
Pike’s prognosis following the botched execution is unclear.
“On Monday night, it was our understanding that Christa was brain dead and that life support would be removed the next day,” Spivey said. “But on Tuesday, to the shock of everyone … Christa woke up and began talking.”
“I do not have an explanation for what happened between Monday night and Tuesday morning.”
Spivey was not in the room when Pike woke up, but said her first words were “Where am I and who are you?”
She is aware the state attempted to execute her and failed, he said.
Questions about the death penalty
Christa Pike’s case has raised many questions about the use of the death penalty in the United States, in particular the use of lethal injection.
Pike is the first person to survive the administration of lethal injection drugs in the US, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.
“She has wanted to know what has happened, and she has asked about several people – she has asked about her team, she has asked about the victim’s family,” Spivey said.
Tennessee has now temporarily paused executions and it has not yet indicated whether it will seek to execute Pike again.
On Wednesday, a court ordered Tennessee to preserve and maintain all medical equipment, records and communications connected to the failed execution.
Pike is currently shackled to her hospital bed and her arms are blistered.
The state now finds itself in a legal grey area, leaving Pike’s fate unknowne. State officials would likely face major legal hurdles if they attempt to execute her by lethal injection again. Pike’s lawyers are pushing for her sentence to be commuted to life in prison.
May Martinez, the mother of Pike’s victim, Colleen Slemmer, said the situation was a “mess”.
“It’s hard. I broke down in tears,” Martinez said. “All I wanted was justice.”
Tennessee’s prison chief, Frank Strada, has already resigned after the botched execution. The state’s governor, Republican Bill Lee, has suspended executions in the state until the end of 2027, and has ordered an independent inquiry.
The use of the death penalty has increased under Donald Trump’s presidency. In 2020, Trump ended a moratorium on the federal death penalty and ordered 13 executions over a six month period. The moratorium returned under Joe Biden, but Trump re-instated the death penality on the first day of his second term.
Texas is scheduled to carry out the execution of a man on death row for capital murder, Jamaal Howard, on Wednesday, in what will be the first in the country since Pike’s failed execution.