Christa Pike's Handcuffs Removed in Hospital Post-Botched Execution

Christa Pike, the death row inmate who survived a botched execution in Tennessee, has had her handcuffs removed as she recovers in a hospital. However, one of her feet remains shackled to the bed, according to her attorney, Luke Ihnen.

Pike, 50, became the first U.S. death row inmate to survive lethal injection on September 30, after receiving two doses of pentobarbital. Ihnen visited Pike the day before reporting on her condition in a court filing on Thursday. He stated that Pike is under guard by three armed corrections officers and is not considered an escape risk, nor is she physically capable of escaping.

Pike's legal team had requested during a court hearing on Wednesday that her hand be unshackled, a request supported by the medical personnel treating her. Pike was sentenced to death for the 1995 murder of her 19-year-old Job Corps classmate, Colleen Slemmer. She was 18 at the time of the murder.

Following the botched execution, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee paused all remaining executions scheduled for this year and initiated an independent review into the incident. Pike's lawyers have called on the governor to commute her sentence to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

The state has not yet announced whether Pike's execution will be rescheduled.