US death row inmate Christa Pike is conscious and speaking after surviving a failed execution attempt in Tennessee, according to her lawyers.
Pike, 50, remains in hospital receiving critical medical care while handcuffed, her attorneys said in a statement on Tuesday. She was scheduled to be executed by lethal injection last Wednesday after being sentenced to death for the 1995 murder of Colleen Slemmer. However, the execution attempt failed after authorities administered two doses of pentobarbital. Pike was taken to hospital and remained unconscious for several days while medical staff worked to clear the drug from her system.
Her apparent recovery has been described as unprecedented by experts and members of her legal team. Deborah Denno, a criminologist and professor at Fordham Law School, said Pike is believed to be the only person known to have survived a lethal injection after the execution process resulted in a toxin being administered.
“I’m absolutely astonished” that Pike is now conscious and speaking, Denno said. She noted that seven other prisoners have survived failed execution attempts, but in those cases executioners were unable to successfully inject the lethal drugs into the inmates’ veins.
Authorities have not announced whether Tennessee will make another attempt to execute Pike. They have also not explained why the procedure failed. Tennessee Governor Bill Lee suspended all executions in the state for the remainder of the year following the incident. The state’s prisons chief has also announced plans to resign.
Pike’s lawyers said her recovery remains uncertain and warned that she could face a lengthy rehabilitation.
“At a minimum, we expect a long recovery,” the attorneys said.
Pike’s lawyers were scheduled to appear in court in Nashville on Wednesday, where they also planned to hold a news conference.
