Christa Pike says there is ‘pain in my mind and in my soul’ one month after failed execution
Pike said she remains in constant physical and mental pain as Tennessee pauses executions and reviews what went wrong.
- One month after surviving a botched lethal injection on September 30, death row inmate Christa Pike released a statement describing constant physical and mental pain while remaining largely isolated in the prison medical ward.
- Procedural failures characterized the September 30 execution attempt at Riverbend Maximum Security Prison, where an IV team required seven needles to set lines and a miscommunicated 911 call triggered a 26-minute delay in emergency response.
- Gov. Bill Lee paused all executions and ordered an independent review, while Correction Commissioner Frank Strada announced his resignation; Lee stated "I suspect her sentence will be the same as before," unless courts intervene.
- A judge this month ordered the state to preserve all evidence related to the attempted execution, including syringes and personnel logs, as attorneys for Pike expect a "long legal battle" regarding future attempts.
- Pike was convicted in 1996 for the 'Jobs Corps Murder' of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer; although Pike stated she continues to think about the victim's family, May Martinez insisted Tennessee should not remove Pike from death row.
267 Articles
267 Articles
'Deeply hurt': Convicted murderer Christa Pike speaks out after botched execution
Tennessee death row inmate Christa Pike said she remains in constant pain after surviving a botched lethal injection in September, in her first public statement since the failed execution. She expressed gratitude for those who saved her life while urging compassion for her victim's family.
Christa Pike slams ‘incompetence’ after surviving US execution
Christa Pike said on Friday that she remained in constant pain and struggled to speak a month after surviving a lethal injection in Tennessee, a failure she blamed on “incompetence.” In her first public statement since the execution, Pike said she never contemplated a life beyond her execution date and was prepared to die in peace, but woke up alone and confused in a hospital bed. “There hasn’t been a moment since that night when I haven’t been …
A month ago she had survived the lethal injection in Tennessee: "My whole body hurts. My arms hurt. My hands hurt. My throat hurts. I still have trouble talking."
A month after surviving a botched execution in Tennessee, Christa Pike said Friday she still feels constant pain and has difficulty speaking, blaming incompetence for the failure.
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