Christa Pike, the first woman scheduled for execution in Tennessee in over 200 years, asked two chilling questions when she woke up after a botched lethal injection, her lawyers have revealed.
Pike, 50, survived two lethal injections and was rushed to a hospital in Nashville, where she remains. Her lawyer, Randy Spivey, told reporters outside the courthouse in Tennessee that she asked, "Where am I and who are you?" as soon as she woke up.
Medical condition after botched execution
Pike woke up with a blood clot and pneumonia, and could not swallow or move her arms. Her legal team appeared in court following the incident last week, seeking an order for the state to preserve all evidence from the execution.
The judge ordered the state to preserve "anything that was in the actual room." Her legal team claims the botched execution was "foreseeable and foreseen" due to her medical condition.
Lawyer's statement and legal battle
Spivey said: "What happened to Christa is exactly what the state was warned would happen, and there are so many questions that need to be answered, not by Christa — but by the state of Tennessee." He added: "Christa was at peace. She helped the execution team find what they thought was venous access."
Spivey said Pike has not been able to swallow or eat since regaining consciousness, adding "we do know that there is a long road ahead." On Monday, her legal team understood she was "brain dead" and that "life support" would be removed the next day — but on Tuesday, Pike woke up.
Background of the case
Prior to the execution attempt, Pike's legal team had filed for a last-minute delay, though this was later overturned and the execution was permitted to proceed later that day by the US Supreme Court.
Pike was on death row for the murder of Colleen Slemmer in January 1995. Slemmer, 19, was lured into an isolated area on the University of Tennessee agricultural campus. Pike was convicted alongside her boyfriend in 1996, and the court heard there was a pentagram carved into Slemmer's chest.
