Convicted murderer Christa Pike is conscious and speaking from a hospital bed, where she remains handcuffed and shackled after Tennessee’s failed execution attempt, according to her attorneys.
Pike, 50, was placed on a ventilator after officials were unable to kill her with lethal injection on September 30.
Nearly a week later, her lawyers said Pike was “conscious, speaking, and continues to receive critical medical care.”
“Despite the severe damage she endured to her arms, she is still handcuffed and shackled to the bed. Her recovery is medically unprecedented. Her prognosis remains unclear but, at a minimum, we expect a long recovery.”
Medical staff reportedly used at least seven needles while attempting to administer two lethal doses of pentobarbital. Pike’s attorneys previously said the injections left her arms “swollen, burned, and blistered.”
Her lawyers praised the hospital staff caring for Pike, saying they had “treated Christa like a human and have provided exceptional care to her.”
The statement is the first indication that Pike’s condition has improved since she was taken from the Debra K. Johnson Rehabilitation Center in Nashville to a hospital last week.
On Friday, her attorneys said doctors were working to remove the pentobarbital from her system.
Convicted murderer Christa Pike is awake and speaking in hospital after her failed execution, according to her attorneys
Pike is receiving critical care at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, her lawyers said
Pike remains under treatment at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
The update on her condition came days after Tennessee Department of Correction Commissioner Frank Strada announced his resignation.
Strada, who oversaw the attempted execution, will leave his post later this month, Governor Bill Lee announced Saturday. An interim commissioner will be appointed.
A motion filed after the failed execution said that “at one point, Ms Pike herself offered guidance on where the IV team could attempt access; one needle was bent at a 90-degree angle when it was removed.”
Her attorneys said Pike was given two sets of syringes containing the lethal drug and could be heard crying, whimpering and breathing heavily during the procedure.
At one point, Pike said, “My arm feels like it’s about to burst open.” She later asked, “Does this happen like that?”
Strada described serving as commissioner as a “great honor” and said he continued to “believe the Department carried out its responsibilities in accordance with the established protocol.”
“Even so, stepping aside is in the best interest of Tennesseans as the independent review moves forward,” he said.
“I believe this review is entirely appropriate and necessary, and I look forward to doing everything I can to help determine exactly what occurred.”
Pike has spent 30 years on death row after being convicted of murdering her 1995 Knoxville Jobs Corps classmate, Colleen Slemmer (pictured)
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The governor said Strada ‘served with integrity’ and that he ‘appreciated his willingness to put the interests of Tennesseans first during this difficult moment.’
But Pike’s team has continued to argue that the department failed the inmate who has been on death row for 30 years after she was convicted of the 1995 murder of her Knoxville Jobs Corp classmate Colleen Slemmer.
Pike’s attorneys said they believed problems with the IV lines caused the pentobarbital to flow into her body instead of her bloodstream.
‘Apparently at no point did any member of the execution team realize that the IV lines were not correctly placed or that the veins had blown and that the pentobarbital was, in whole or in part, entering Ms Pike’s body,’ the lawyers wrote in the court filing.
Instead of ‘remedying this failure,’ they prepared and administered a backup set of pentobarbital syringes, they wrote.
Her lawyers are seeking to have all of the evidence from her botched execution preserved so they can ensure accountability and protect her legal rights.
Her health update comes just days after the Tennessee Department of Correction Commissioner Frank Strada resigned
Pike’s then-boyfriend, Tadaryl Shipp (left), and an accomplice, Shadolla Peterson (right), also helped lure Slemmer to a wooded area before the couple tortured her to death
‘We are working closely with those closest to Christa to respect her wishes, safeguard her privacy and protect her rights as a patient during this extraordinarily difficult time,’ said Luke Ihnen, attorney for Pike with Federal Defender Services of Eastern Tennessee.
‘We ask that the public and the media respect that privacy as well.’
Just hours before Pike was rushed out of prison, her execution was dramatically halted after the US Court of Appeals issued a stay of execution order.
That came after a judge agreed to consider whether childhood sexual abuse she suffered was taken into account when she was first sentenced.
Later that evening, her execution moved forward and failed.
Pike’s boyfriend at the time of Slemmer’s murder, Tadaryl Shipp, helped lure the victim to a wooded area before the couple tortured her to death.
Pike also took a piece of Slemmer’s skull (pictured in court during her murder trial) as a souvenir, according to investigators
An accomplice, Shadolla Peterson, was on lookout as the pair carved a pentagram into the teen’s chest, police evidence showed.
Pike also took a piece of her skull as a souvenir, according to investigators.
Slemmer attempted to run for her life, but the couple captured her again and continued the gruesome torture that lasted about 30 minutes to an hour, Pike estimated.
Pike and Shipp were both found guilty of first-degree murder. She was sentenced to death, and he received a life sentence with the possibility of parole.
