Death row inmate Christa Pike now speaking in full sentences and walking on her own after botched execution for brutal murder of classmate in 1995
Christa Pike has made strides in her recovery in the weeks since her botched execution, and is now said to be walking and even speaking in full sentences.
The 50-year-old received two doses of pentobarbital on September 30 as Tennessee state officials tried to execute her for the 1995 stabbing death of classmate Colleen Slemmer, but was still breathing in the aftermath.
She was then rushed to a local hospital, where she was unconscious and on a ventilator, with severe burns on her arms.
Pike has since been discharged and was sent back to the women’s prison where she was housed for 30 years, where her lawyers say she has improved physically.
She is now able to walk more on her own, her attorney told TMZ.
Her speech has also improved, he added, and she is now able to communicate more clearly and form full sentences.
Yet the full effects of the botched execution remain unclear, as doctors continue to monitor her cognitive and psychological functioning.
It may now take another month before the long-term effects of the failed execution are realized, the lawyer said.
Christa Pike, 50, was hospitalized after surviving two doses of pentobarbital as the state tried to execute her for the 1995 stabbing death of classmate Colleen Slemmer
Emergency responders were seen rushing to Riverbend Maximum Security Institution following the botched execution on September 30
Pike had been injected by at least seven needles as medical staff attempted to give her two lethal doses of pentobarbital, her lawyers have previously claimed.
‘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,’ they argued in court documents.
When she was then administered two sets of syringes of the lethal drug and could be heard crying, whimpering and breathing loudly throughout the process, the lawyers said.
During the procedure, she reportedly said, ‘my arm feels like it’s about to burst open,’ and at another point, asked, ‘does this happen like that?’
When she later arrived at the hospital, both of her arms were swollen, burned and blistered from the drug, which the lawyers compared to bleach or Drano, the chemical used to clear clogged household drains and pipes.
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.
They wrote that, instead of ‘remedying this failure,’ they prepared and administered a backup set of pentobarbital syringes.
The killer had been on death row for 30 years since she was convicted of the 1995 murder of her Knoxville Jobs Corp classmate Colleen Slemmer
Pike was assisted by her boyfriend, Tadaryl Shipp (left), and their classmate Shadolla Peterson (right) in Slemmer’s beating and murder
It has since been revealed that local and state police were left confused and incredulous after prison officials reported that Christa Pike survived her execution attempt last month – with one dispatcher even believing it was a false report.
This is a breaking news story and will be updated.
