Death row inmate Christa Pike survived two lethal injections on September 30 and is now back in prison, according to her lawyers. The 50-year-old, who was due to become the first woman executed in Tennessee in more than 200 years, was rushed to hospital before being discharged back to the prison where she has spent the last 30 years.
Friend says Pike was 'ready to go'
A close friend of Pike's has reportedly disclosed that the inmate was "ready" to face death. Marcy Wilson, 60, spoke with her convicted friend four days prior to the scheduled execution date and reportedly urged Pike not to abandon hope.
According to the Daily Mail, she revealed that Pike was nonetheless "ready to go" and had made her peace with dying. Wilson recounted how Pike enquired whether she would like some of her ashes and a lock of her hair, to which Wilson agreed.
She said: "It was really hard to talk about. I've never had a conversation with someone who knew when her expiration date was. She was pleased when I said yes.
"She was calm, she was happy, she was sad. It was every single emotion you can think of. She told me, 'Marcy, I'm not afraid to die. I'm just afraid of the process'."
Lawyer describes condition after failed execution
Pike's legal representatives stated on Wednesday that the prisoner had been restrained to the bed in a heavily guarded room and felt "confused and angry". Addressing journalists outside the Tennessee courthouse, her solicitor Randy Spivey informed reporters Pike was "very aware that the state tried to execute her".
He said Pike asked two questions immediately after waking up: "Where am I and who are you?" Spivey continued that the prisoner was incapable of movement, experienced "extraordinary" swelling to her hands and arms, and awoke with a blood clot and pneumonia.
Pike's defence team stated that for several days, they believed the prisoner was brain dead and anticipated she would be taken off life support. Her legal counsel was petitioning for Pike to be taken off death row and have her sentence reduced to life imprisonment following the botched execution.
Background of the 1995 murder
Pike, then aged 18, enticed her classmate Colleen Slemmer into a secluded section of the University of Tennessee campus and savagely murdered her in January 1995, after suspecting Slemmer had romantic interest in her boyfriend. Pike's boyfriend, Tadaryl Shipp, and their friend, Shadolla Peterson, were likewise found guilty of involvement in Slemmer's killing.
