Christa Pike, the Tennessee death row inmate in the United States who survived a failed execution last week, is now conscious, speaking and receiving medical treatment, according to her attorneys.
Pike remains in hospital following two unsuccessful attempts to administer a lethal dose of pentobarbital. Her lawyers said Tuesday that she is still handcuffed and shackled and has suffered significant injuries to her arms.
Her prognosis remains uncertain, with her attorneys warning that she faces a lengthy recovery.
“At a minimum, we expect a long recovery,” attorneys Randy Spivey and Kelly Gleason said. “We are incredibly grateful to the first responders and the medical team at the hospital who treated Christa like a human and have provided exceptional care to her. We also want to thank thousands from all over the world who sent messages offering prayers and support for Christa.”
The attorneys described Pike’s survival and current condition as “unprecedented” and said they will provide further details during a news conference Wednesday.
Pike, 50, became the first person known to survive a lethal injection execution after two rounds of the procedure failed to kill her in Tennessee.
Her case has drawn attention from President Donald Trump, who questioned how the execution could have failed and suggested that carrying out a lethal injection should not be difficult.
“How does that happen?,” Trump said. “Should be easy to do. It shouldn’t be very difficult.”
Trump described the case as an “interesting situation” but said Tennessee authorities would decide whether another execution attempt would be made.
“That was an interesting situation, but you’re going to have to speak to Tennessee about it. Whether or not they’re going to go forward,” he told reporters who traveled with him to Texas.
Pike’s attorneys previously said she was subjected to at least seven needle insertions during the failed execution. Spivey described the procedure as “cruel and torturous” and urged Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee to commute Pike’s death sentence to life imprisonment.
Lee subsequently suspended executions in Tennessee while the state investigates the circumstances surrounding the failed procedure, calling Pike’s case a “tragedy.”
Before the execution attempt, Pike had sought to be executed by hanging, citing concerns that damaged veins in her arms could prevent the execution team from successfully administering pentobarbital.
Pike had been scheduled to become the first woman executed by Tennessee in 200 years.
She was sentenced to death for the 1995 killing of a classmate when both were teenagers. Pike was convicted of torturing and killing the girl before cutting her body with a box cutter.
