Christa Pike, who survived Tennessee’s attempt to execute her by lethal injection, has been moved back to prison, her attorneys said Saturday. Pike, 50, was discharged from the hospital and returned to the Deborah K. Johnson Rehabilitation Center, the women’s prison where she has been housed for 30 years.
“She is grateful to the first responders and her medical team for their care in these extraordinary circumstances. She is continuing to receive medical care at the prison, and we will continue to track her recovery,” the attorneys said in a written statement.
Pike survived two doses of pentobarbital as the state attempted to execute her on Sept. 30 for the 1995 beating and stabbing death of classmate Colleen Slemmer. She had been in a hospital since the failed execution. At one point, she was on a ventilator, and her attorneys did not expect her to survive. However, they stated that Pike woke up and began talking and walking with assistance.
The Death Penalty Information Center reports that Pike is the first person to survive after receiving lethal injection drugs during an execution.
The Tennessee Department of Correction has not detailed what went wrong during the execution. Medical and lethal injection experts have suggested a potential issue with the IV line caused the drug to pool in Pike’s tissue rather than enter her bloodstream. Pike’s attorneys asserted in a court filing that “apparently at no point did any member of the execution team realize that the IV lines were not correctly placed.”
The failed execution has prompted renewed scrutiny of Tennessee's methods for carrying out death sentences. Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee subsequently postponed the state’s only other scheduled execution for the year and initiated a review of the incident. The state’s prison chief resigned in the aftermath of the failed execution.
During the execution process, when asked if she had a final statement, Pike spoke of being at peace. Approximately five minutes later, she raised her head and stated her arm hurt. Later, she appeared to lose consciousness but could be heard breathing heavily until media witnesses were escorted from the witness room nearly 90 minutes into the execution. An ambulance then transported her to a hospital.