Christa Pike is awake and speaking while handcuffed to her hospital bed after surviving seven lethal injection jabs during a botched execution attempt in Tennessee.
Lawyer Reports 'Medically Unprecedented' Recovery
'Against all odds, Christa Pike is conscious, speaking, and continues to receive critical medical care,' her lawyer said. 'Despite the severe damage she endured to her arms, she is still handcuffed and shackled to the bed. Her recovery is medically unprecedented. Her prognosis remains unclear but, at a minimum, we expect a long recovery.'
Her attorneys said they are grateful for the first responders and the medical team at the hospital 'who treated Christa like a human and have provided exceptional care to her.' The statement was the first indication that Pike has improved since an ambulance carried her away from a Nashville prison last Wednesday.
What Went Wrong During the Execution
Pike survived two doses of pentobarbital as Tennessee officials attempted to put her to death. Before the dose was administered at around 7.27pm, Pike was strapped to a gurney and is reported as saying 'I'm going to leave this world the way I spent most of my life and that is in love.' She then remained awake and at one point asked if her arm was supposed to feel that way.
At 8.26pm, execution witnesses reported a second dose of pentobarbital had been administered. Pike was then heard snoring before the microphone was cut off at 8.53pm. One of her attorneys said the 50-year-old was being 'provided life-saving measures' in hospital.
What Happens Next
It is unclear whether the state will try to execute Pike again. Dr Joel Zivot, a professor of anesthesiology, said the development 'bodes well for a good recovery.' But, he added, it could be weeks or months before anyone knows exactly what her recovery might look like, and whether her competency could be restored to a level that might enable the state to try again to execute her.
'She's still in the ICU,' he said. 'She has recovered to a certain degree that she's able to be off a ventilator and able to speak, but in no way would I announce her free of further serious risk. There's still a lot of bad things that can happen here, even when everyone is doing their job well.'
Why Christa Pike Was Convicted
Pike and her then boyfriend Tadaryl Shipp beat and tortured to death 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer. The case garnered widespread attention at the time of the killing in part because a pentagram that was carved on Slemmer's body and other elements of the crime stoked fears of Satan worship during the 'satanic panic' of the 1980s and 1990s.
After the killing, Pike was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder. She claimed she only wanted to fight Slemmer but killed her in a frenzied attack when she couldn't 'put the brakes on.' At the time Pike believed Slemmer was trying to steal Shipp — a fellow student with whom she shared an interest in satanic imagery — away from her, although friends of the victim denied this.
Prosecutors said that Slemmer was kicked, beaten and slashed for half an hour, and that Pike carved a pentagram into her chest while she was still alive, before she died from blows to the head with a chunk of asphalt. Slemmer's half-naked body was found the next morning, with her blood-soaked clothes hanging above her on tree branches. All the teenagers involved were arrested within 36 hours, with investigators discovering a satanic Bible and altar in Pike's room, along with a fragment of Slemmer's skull.
