NASHVILLE, Tenn.: Christa Pike, the Tennessee death row inmate who survived an attempt to execute her by lethal injection last week, has regained consciousness and is now speaking, her attorneys said.
Pike, 50, remains hospitalized after the Sept. 30 execution attempt at the Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville failed.
Her attorneys said intravenous lines were inserted in an effort to administer pentobarbital, but the drug leaked into surrounding tissue instead of entering her veins, causing severe swelling, burns and blisters on her arms.
Pike was initially reported to be unconscious and in critical condition and was placed on a ventilator as doctors worked to remove pentobarbital from her body. Her attorneys said Tuesday that she had regained consciousness and was speaking, although she continues to receive intensive medical care.
The execution attempt lasted about 2½ hours, according to her attorneys and witnesses. Officials made two attempts to administer the lethal drug before stopping the procedure and calling an ambulance.
Pike was sentenced to death for the 1995 torture and murder of her 19-year-old classmate, Colleen Slemmer. Prosecutors said Pike and her then-boyfriend, Tadaryl Shipp, took Slemmer to a wooded area near the University of Tennessee's Knoxville campus before killing her.
Pike was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to death, while Shipp received a life sentence with the possibility of parole.
During the failed execution, Pike's attorneys said the pentobarbital appeared to have leaked into tissue beneath the skin because of difficulties inserting IV lines. They said Pike's doctors had previously warned that her small veins and a blood disorder could make establishing IV access particularly difficult.
Her attorneys have asked a court to order the preservation of evidence related to the failed execution, arguing that it could show that Tennessee's Department of Correction subjected Pike to cruel and unusual punishment and violated her constitutional rights.
The Tennessee Department of Correction has defended its procedures, saying officials followed the state's established execution protocol.
Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee has ordered an independent investigation into the failed execution and halted scheduled executions for the remainder of the year. Department of Correction Commissioner Frank Strada has also resigned and is expected to leave his post this month.
Lee previously rejected Pike's request to have her death sentence commuted to life imprisonment without parole. Her attorneys had argued that her history of childhood trauma, sexual abuse, neglect and untreated mental illness had not been adequately considered when she was sentenced.
Pike spent nearly 30 years on death row, including an extended period in solitary confinement. She is believed to be the first known person in the United States to survive an execution attempt involving lethal injection.
Her case is scheduled for a hearing in Davidson County Chancery Court, where her attorneys are seeking to preserve evidence from the failed execution.
