Christa Pike conscious and speaking after failed Tennessee execution, lawyers say

Christa Pike, the Tennessee death row inmate who survived a botched execution attempt last week, is now conscious and speaking, her attorneys said Tuesday. Pike, 50, continues to receive critical medical care while handcuffed and shackled to her hospital bed, according to a statement from her legal team.

Pike was given two lethal doses of pentobarbital on Sept. 30 at the Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville. The execution was canceled when it was determined she had not lost consciousness and still had a heartbeat, according to media witnesses. She was taken by ambulance to a hospital, where she remained unconscious for days as doctors worked to clear the drug from her body.

In their statement, Pike's lawyers said her recovery was "medically unprecedented" and that her prognosis remained unclear, but "at a minimum, we expect a long recovery." They also said that "despite the severe damage she endured to her arms, she is still handcuffed and shackled to the bed."

“Against all odds, Christa Pike is conscious, speaking, and continues to receive critical medical care. 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.”

: Pike's attorneys in a statement

Dr. Joel Zivot, an anesthesiologist advising Pike's defense team, told the BBC that she had been taken off a ventilator and could communicate in a "basic way." He said she could recall her name but believed the month was still September, and she did not seem to remember the execution attempt. Zivot cautioned that "there's still a lot of bad things that can happen here, even when everyone is doing their job well."

Pike is believed to be the only person to survive a lethal injection after the drugs were administered, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. Deborah Denno, a criminologist at Fordham Law School, said she was "absolutely astonished" that Pike was conscious and speaking, noting that in seven other cases where prisoners survived executions, executioners had not been able to inject anything into their veins.

Authorities have not said whether they will try again to execute Pike, and they have not offered an explanation for what went wrong. In the wake of the failed attempt, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee suspended all executions for the rest of the year and the state's prison chief, Frank Strada, announced his resignation. Lee also appointed former U.S. Attorney Ed Stanton to conduct an independent review of the execution attempt.

Pike was convicted of the 1995 murder of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer, whom she and her then-boyfriend beat, tortured and killed. She was 18 at the time of the crime. Her attorneys have continued to ask Lee to commute her sentence to life in prison without parole. A status conference on the preservation of execution evidence is scheduled for Wednesday in Davidson County court.