Death Row Inmate Discharged From Hospital After Botched Execution
Christa Pike, the only person believed to have survived a lethal injection attempt, has returned to prison to continue receiving medical care.
US death row inmate Christa Pike has been discharged from hospital and returned to prison following a botched execution attempt on September 30, her lawyers announced Saturday.
Pike, 50, has spent the last 30 years incarcerated and is continuing to receive medical care at the correctional facility. She had been in critical condition in hospital after surviving two lethal injections of the drug pentobarbital.
Earlier this week, Pike regained consciousness and began speaking, a development that surprised medical staff, experts, and her legal team. Her survival marks an unprecedented situation, as she is believed to be the only individual to have endured an attempted execution by lethal injection.
Pike was convicted of the murder of 19-year-old Bobbie Jo Slemmer. She was 18 at the time of the killing, which she committed with her then-boyfriend, Tadaryl Shipp. The pair beat, tortured, and killed Slemmer, whom they had met at a job training program for young people from low-income backgrounds.