Christa Pike’s attorney shares first words she said when waking up from botched execution
Christa Pike’s attorney has revealed the first words she said after the state of Tennessee’s failed attempt to execute her via lethal injection last week.
The attempted execution got underway at around 7.30 pm on September 30. About five minutes later, Pike, 50, raised her head and said her arm was hurting.
At some point she appeared to lose consciousness, but she could be heard breathing until media were escorted from the witness room at 8.53pm. An ambulance arrived at the prison at 9.14 pm to take her to hospital.
The Death Penalty Information Centre says Pike is the only person to survive after receiving lethal injection drugs during an execution.
Advert
Pike, who was sentenced to death for the 1995 beating and stabbing death of classmate Colleen Slemmer, has since been left 'angry and confused' after regaining consciousness almost six days after the botched execution, one of her lawyers has said.
READ MORE: Full timeline of Christa Pike case as she survives attempted execution
Speaking earlier this week during a news conference on Wednesday (7 October), Randy Spivey said: "She is angry and confused about everything right now. She is very aware of what they did to her up to a point."
"I do not have an explanation for what happened between Monday night and Tuesday morning, but I do know she has a long road to recovery," he added. "On Monday night, it was our understanding that Christa was brain dead and that life support would be removed the next day. But on Tuesday, to the shock of everyone… Christa woke up and began talking."
Spivey, who was not with Pike when she woke up, said he was told her first words were 'Where am I?' and 'Who are you?'.
Addressing press, he continued: "There’s still a lot of cognitive confusion, and so I will say that.
"She has wanted to know what’s happened and she’s asked about several people. She’s asked about her team. She’s asked about the victim’s family. I think she is angry and confused about everything."
At a hearing on Wednesday in Nashville, Pike’s lawyers asked the court to order the Tennessee Department of Correction to save evidence in the case and provide more information about what went wrong.
A judge ordered the state to preserve 'anything that was in the actual room'.
"Part of the issue that we are facing is up until yesterday, our client was unconscious, unable to communicate with counsel, unable to communicate with medical providers, and without her consent a new lawsuit cannot be filed," Luke Ihnen, a federal public defender, told the court.
Her legal team said on Tuesday (6 October) that Pike’s prognosis remains unclear and, at a minimum, she faces a lengthy recovery. Her arms were burned and blistered after the attempted lethal injection, and she is handcuffed to the hospital bed, they added.
Chancery Court Judge I’Ashea Myles indicated that her order to save the evidence would be sweeping, saying the state should maintain recordings, witness accounts and emails, along with drugs, syringes, IV lines and other medical items.
The state’s prison chief resigned after the failed execution.
Dr Joel Zivot, a professor of anaesthesiology and surgery in Atlanta who consulted as an expert for Pike’s legal team, said it could be weeks or months before anyone knows what her recovery might look like, and whether her competency could be restored so the state can try again to execute her.
Topics: Crime, US News, True Crime
Rhiannon Ingle