NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Christa Pike has begun walking and eating again at a hospital a week after surviving Tennessee's attempt to execute her with lethal drugs, her attorneys said Thursday.
Pike, 50, survived two doses of pentobarbital as the state sought to giver her a lethal injection eight days ago for the 1995 beating and stabbing death of classmate Colleen Slemmer. The drug didn't kill her, and her arms were left burned and blistered, according to her lawyers. For the first few days of her hospitalization, Pike was unconscious and on a ventilator.
Her first steps on Wednesday were “limited” and she required some assistance as she walked on Thursday, her lawyers said in a statement. She is also regaining mobility in her arms, and she was able to eat for the first time.
But the lawyers warned uncertainty remains about her physical recovery and her legal standing after the attempt to carry out her death sentence.
Questions remain about Pike's recovery and legal case
The failed execution on Sept. 30 has renewed scrutiny of how states carry out the death penalty. Texas on Wednesday carried out the first execution in the U.S. since the Tennessee attempt.
“While her physical recovery has been remarkable, significant questions remain about the long-term effects of what she endured,” her attorneys said in Thursday's statement. “Christa is dealing with the profound psychological trauma of having survived a failed execution, including the terror, pain and uncertainty of believing she was about to die.”
Pike regained consciousness Tuesday and was able to speak after awakening, they said.
They initially described her as "confused" soon after regaining consciousness, and said Thursday that she continued to struggle with concentration and memory. Doctors say it is too early to assess the long-term impacts, the attorneys added.
It also remains unclear whether Tennessee will try to execute her again. Her attorneys have said that they will urge Republican Gov. Bill Lee to commute her death sentence to life in prison without parole.
“She should never be subjected to another execution attempt,” they said in the statement.
What went wrong with the execution remains unclear
Lee has since postponed the state's only other scheduled execution this year and ordered a review of why the execution failed. The state's prison chief resigned after the execution attempt.
Medical and lethal injection experts have focused on whether a problem with the IV line caused the drug to pool in her tissue instead of entering her bloodstream.
Pike’s attorneys wrote in a court filing that “apparently at no point did any member of the execution team realize that the IV lines were not correctly placed.”
State officials have offered no explanation of what occurred.
As the process got underway Pike was asked if she had a final statement and she spoke of being at peace. About five minutes later, she raised her head and said her arm hurt. Later, she appeared to lose consciousness but could be heard breathing heavily until media witnesses were escorted from the witness room nearly 90 minutes into the execution. An ambulance took her to a hospital.
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Chandler reported from Montgomery, Alabama. Associated Press writer Safiyah Riddle in Los Angeles contributed.
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