Christa Pike, a 50-year-old woman sentenced to death for murdering Colleen Slemmer in 1995, is now walking around her hospital room after a botched execution attempt in the US state of Tennessee. Her lawyer, Stephen Ferrell, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that Pike was moving around her room for the first time since the failed execution on September 30.
Pike survived two lethal injections, an unprecedented event, and was taken to hospital where she was initially unconscious and declared to be in a critical condition. Ferrell said Pike was continuing to experience the after-effects of the drug pentobarbital, which was injected into her body in two doses by prison staff during the scheduled execution.
According to Ferrell, Pike's physical condition is improving, but her arms are injured and she is unable to use them much. She is also experiencing mental fogginess, losing her train of thought easily, and forgetting where she's going. Ferrell and his colleagues oppose any new attempt by state prison authorities to follow the same approach and are calling on the state governor, Bill Lee, to downgrade Pike's punishment to life in prison without parole.
The Pike case has raised questions about the use of lethal injection as a method of execution. Senator Marsha Blackburn, the Republican candidate for state governor, suggested bringing back the electric chair as an alternative. Meanwhile, Governor Bill Lee has ordered a pause on all executions in the state for the rest of the year and has said he wants answers about what went wrong.
A court has ordered the state of Tennessee to preserve all evidence related to the failed execution, including IV lines, syringes, and waste. The judge, I'Ashea Myles, also demanded documentation on Pike's psychological condition prior to, during, and after the execution attempt. Pike's boyfriend at the time of Slemmer's murder, Tadaryl Shipp, was spared the death penalty because he was not legally an adult when the crime was committed.
Pike was 18 and Shipp was 17 when they beat, tortured, and killed 19-year-old Slemmer, whom they had met at a job training camp for troubled teens. The mother of Slemmer, who was among those pushing for Pike to be put to death, described the failed execution as a "mess".
The state's prisons chief is resigning after the failed execution, and Ferrell said much remains unknown about what happens next for Pike. He added that the team wants Pike to receive psychological support, as it is necessary now, and assumes her situation will keep improving, but there could be some permanent damage.
Key points
- Christa Pike survives botched lethal injection.
- Pike walks around hospital room after execution attempt.
- Tennessee governor orders pause on executions.
