Christa Pike is awake and speaking nearly a week after Tennessee gave her two doses of lethal injection.
The 50-year-old remains under critical medical care at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, with her long-term prognosis unclear.
“Against all odds, Christa Pike is conscious, speaking, and continues to receive critical medical care,” her attorneys said in an October 6 statement.
They called her recovery “medically unprecedented” and said they expect it to be lengthy.
“Despite the severe damage she endured to her arms, she is still handcuffed and shackled to the bed,” they added. The lawyers thanked the hospital staff, saying they had “treated Christa like a human and have provided exceptional care to her.”
Christa Pike is awake and speaking after surviving capital punishment by injection
The development was the first reported improvement in Pike’s condition since the failed sentence on September 30.
As recently as Friday, her attorneys said she was unconscious and on a ventilator while doctors treated the effects of pentobarbital, the substance Tennessee had used in an effort to end her life.
Pike’s procedure took place at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville. According to a subsequent court filing by her lawyers, the team used at least seven needles while trying to establish an intravenous line.
Tennessee Department of Corrections
Pike offered suggestions about where they might find a vein, the filing said, and one needle was bent at a 90-degree angle when it was removed.
Her attorneys said she cried, whimpered and breathed loudly as the procedure continued. At one point, Pike told the team, “My arm feels like it’s about to burst open.” She also asked, “Does this happen like that?”
The team administered one set of pentobarbital syringes and then a backup set, according to the lawyers. Pike survived. When she arrived at the hospital, both of her arms were “swollen, burned, and blistered,” the filing said.
Tennessee’s Department of Correction has said it followed established protocol
Her legal team believes the IV lines may have been misplaced or that the veins failed, allowing some or all of the substance to enter tissue rather than her bloodstream.
In their filing, they alleged that no one on the team recognized the problem before administering the second set of syringes. That account remains an allegation pending further review. Tennessee’s Department of Correction has said it followed its established protocol.
Pike’s lawyers have asked a court to preserve records and other evidence from the attempt so they can establish what happened and protect her legal rights.
Vanderbilt University Medical Center / Nashville Banner / Martin B. Cherry
Luke Ihnen, an attorney with Federal Defender Services of Eastern Tennessee, said the team was working with those closest to Pike to respect her wishes and her rights as a patient. He asked the public and media to respect her privacy.
The attempt followed a last-minute legal reprieve. Hours before the procedure, the US Court of Appeals issued a stay while a judge considered a claim concerning the treatment of the crimes committed against Pike when she was a child at sentencing.
Capital punishment proceeded later that evening.
The prison chief has stepped down as the state reviews what happened
Tennessee Department of Correction Commissioner Frank Strada announced his resignation days after the failed procedure. Governor Bill Lee said Strada would leave later in October and that an interim commissioner would be appointed as an independent review moved forward.
Strada maintained that the department had acted in accordance with its protocol.
“Even so, stepping aside is in the best interest of Tennesseans as the independent review moves forward,” he said, adding that he wanted to help determine exactly what occurred.
Lee said Strada had “served with integrity” and thanked him for putting the state’s interests first.
Pike had spent roughly 30 years on row for the 1995 homicide of Colleen Slemmer, a 19-year-old classmate at a Knoxville Job Corps program.
Pike and her then-boyfriend, Tadaryl Shipp, lured Slemmer to a wooded area and attacked her. Shadolla Peterson acted as a lookout. Investigators said a pentagram was carved into Slemmer’s chest and that Pike took a piece of her skull.
Pike and Shipp were convicted of first-degree homicide. Pike received capital punishment, while Shipp was sentenced to life with the possibility of parole.
Pike’s attorneys have since tried to argue that the torment she was subjected to during childhood and mental health history were inadequately considered when she was sentenced.
