Christa Pike, 50, is conscious and speaking after surviving a failed lethal injection last Wednesday in Tennessee, her legal team said Tuesday. She remains hospitalized and handcuffed, receiving critical medical care.
Pike survived two injection attempts with pentobarbital, a lethal drug. She lost consciousness after the procedure and spent days unconscious as medical staff cleared the chemical from her body. Her lawyers call her recovery "medically unprecedented."
Deborah Denno, a criminologist and professor at Fordham Law School, told the BBC that Pike is believed to be the only person to survive a lethal injection after toxins entered her body. Seven other prisoners survived scheduled executions, but in those cases, executioners could not inject anything into their veins, Denno said. "They did everything they were supposed to do as part of the execution process, and it simply didn't work. This has never happened before."
Dr. Joel Zivot, an anesthesiologist advising Pike's defense team, said most people who receive lethal injection die from it. "Pretty well everyone, except Christa," he told the BBC. He suggested the pentobarbital likely spread into tissue under her skin rather than entering her bloodstream in normal circulation. Zivot noted substantial uncertainty remains about her recovery prospects and warned that "all the big risks are behind her" cannot yet be said.
Pike's medical history includes thrombocytosis, a blood-clotting condition, and small veins. Her lawyers said last week that these factors posed risks for "unnecessary" pain and suffering. They reported Tuesday that she has endured "severe damage" to her arms.
Tennessee Governor Bill Lee suspended all executions for the remainder of the year following the incident. The head of the state's prison system said over the weekend that he plans to resign.
Pike was 18 when she and her then-boyfriend, Tadaryl Shipp, beat, tortured and killed 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer in 1995 at a job training camp for troubled teens.
Authorities have not explained what caused the failed injection or said whether they will attempt execution again. Pike's attorneys are scheduled to appear in Nashville court Wednesday and plan to hold a news conference.
According to the Death Penalty Information Center, more than a third of US executions in 2022 were botched or highly problematic. All documented lethal injection failures occurred before drugs could be administered. The last tracked failure happened earlier this year, also in Tennessee, when staff could not find a vein for Tony Carruthers' execution.