Christa Pike Details Pain After Botched Execution
Pike, who survived two lethal injections, describes ongoing physical and psychological suffering one month after her scheduled execution.
Christa Pike has broken her silence one month after her execution was botched, stating she has been in continuous pain since surviving the lethal injection. Pike, 50, was scheduled to be the first woman put to death in Tennessee in over two centuries on September 30, but became the first prisoner in the state's history to survive the lethal injection process.
"One month ago on September 30, I walked into the execution chamber at Riverbend men’s prison prepared to die. I had made my peace," Pike said in a statement released by her attorneys. "Several days later I woke up alone in a hospital confused and in pain."
Pike described her suffering as both physical and mental. "There hasn’t been a moment since that night when I haven’t been in pain. My body hurts. My arms hurt. My hands hurt. My throat hurts. I still struggle to speak. And the pain isn’t just physical. There is pain in my mind and in my soul."
She was convicted of the 1985 murder of Colleen Slemmer. Pike was 18 at the time of the murder and has been on death row for over 30 years.