Christa Pike, who survived two doses of a lethal injection drug last week during a botched execution in Tennessee, is conscious and speaking, her lawyers said in a statement on Tuesday. Ms. Pike continues to receive critical medical care at a Nashville hospital, the lawyers said. The prognosis remains unclear, but they expect a long recovery. "Christa is a survivor and will take recovery one day at a time," the lawyers said.
Ms. Pike, 50, is believed to be the first person to have survived doses of a lethal injection drug. She has been hospitalized since the execution attempt on Sept. 30, after it became clear to witnesses that she was still breathing after two doses of pentobarbital. She had been unconscious and on a ventilator in recent days as medical staff worked to rid her body of the drug. The lawyers noted that Ms. Pike, who sustained burns and other injuries to her arm, remained handcuffed and shackled to her bed.
Ms. Pike's lawyers are set to appear in court in Nashville on Wednesday as they push for transparency about what went wrong. Ms. Pike had been on death row for three decades after a conviction for her role in the 1995 torture and murder of a classmate, Colleen Slemmer. Her lawyers have renewed their plea for Gov. Bill Lee to reconsider allowing her to serve life in prison.
Gov. Lee put a moratorium on executions after the failed attempt, the second this year. State Republicans, including Senator Marsha Blackburn, have signaled a desire to press forward with executions using a different method, such as the electric chair. The failed attempt left questions about the secretive lethal injection process. David Raybin, a Nashville lawyer who helped write Tennessee's death penalty law, said the failure is "eroding public confidence."
Source: New York Times Top Stories · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing