Christa Pike has been discharged from the hospital and returned to the Deborah K. Johnson Rehabilitation Center prison on Saturday, according to her attorneys, more than a week after she survived a botched execution attempt in Tennessee.
Pike, 50, had been hospitalized since Sept. 30, when the state attempted to execute her by lethal injection. She had been housed at the Deborah K. Johnson Rehabilitation Center for 30 years before that date.
What Happened During The Execution Attempt
During the Sept. 30 procedure, Pike was asked if she had a final statement and spoke of being at peace, according to the Associated Press. About five minutes later, she raised her head and said her arm hurt, then appeared to lose consciousness but could be heard breathing heavily. Media witnesses were escorted from the room nearly 90 minutes into the execution, and an ambulance took her to a hospital.
Pike received two doses of pentobarbital during the attempt, according to the AP. In a court filing, her attorneys said “apparently at no point did any member of the execution team realize that the IV lines were not correctly placed.”
Medical and lethal injection experts have focused on whether a problem with the IV line caused the drug to pool in her tissue instead of entering her bloodstream. Pike is believed to be the first person to survive an execution attempt by lethal injection in the United States, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.
Pike’s Recovery And Current Custody Status
Pike’s attorneys said they initially did not expect her to survive. She had been on a ventilator at one point, but she eventually woke up and began talking and walking with assistance, according to her legal team.
By Tuesday, Pike regained consciousness and was speaking from her hospital bed, her attorneys said. She began taking limited steps with help by Wednesday, and by Thursday she was walking with some assistance. Her attorneys said her arms were healing and regaining movement and strength, her lungs were clear, and she had started to eat a regular diet.
“She is grateful to the first responders and her medical team for their care in these extraordinary circumstances,” Pike’s attorneys said in a statement. “She is continuing to receive medical care at the prison, and we will continue to track her recovery.”
Pike’s legal team includes attorneys Stephen Ferrell, Luke Ihnen, Randy Spivey and Kelly Gleason, according to CBS News.
Background On The Case
Pike was convicted in 1995 of murdering her classmate, 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer. Prosecutors said Pike, then 18, tortured and killed Slemmer with a meat cleaver and box cutter for up to an hour in a wooded area of the University of Tennessee campus, with help from her boyfriend and a friend, according to CBS News.
In the wake of the failed execution, Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee postponed the state’s only other scheduled execution for this year and ordered a review of what went wrong, the AP reported. The state’s prison chief resigned following the incident.
What’s Next
No new execution date has been reported, and the state’s review of the failed procedure remains ongoing. Pike continues to receive medical care at the prison as her attorneys track her recovery, according to her legal team. For more on the case, see officials’ review after the execution failure and earlier updates on her condition.
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