Christa Pike's attorney speaks out publicly for the first time since failed execution
Christa Pike's attorney Stephen Ferrell has publicly spoken out about her condition following her failed execution.
On September 30, Pike was given two doses of the lethal injection, pentobarbital. However, journalists inside the execution chamber reportedly recalled the 50-year-old 'snoring loudly' for up to 40 minutes after she was administered the so-called 'lethal' drug. She was then taken to hospital, where it was revealed she was receiving life-saving treatment.
Speaking to CNN on Sunday October 4, Ferrell said that Pike's condition 'remains the same' and that she's 'still in the hospital on a ventilator.'
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Ferrell said the 50-year-old was 'still critically ill' although they don't yet know the prognosis.
"We may not know for several days," he added.
Ferrell was then asked whether Pike was ever conscious after the failed execution, and whether she had been able to say anything.
"Not that I'm aware," he responded.
He revealed that he's not yet been able to see Pike in the hospital, and that the 50-year-old was 'guarded.'
The state of Tennessee has not yet said whether it will ultimately try to execute her again.
The governor has suspended all executions in Tennessee until the end of this year.
Doctors have not yet publicly explained how Pike was able to survive, although Ferrell said he was not consulting with doctors directly.
The update comes after Pike's lawyers filed court documents explaining her condition, as they asked the state to preserve all evidence from the incident.
A statement from her attorneys, seen by seen by NBC News, read: “Christa remains critically ill and is receiving medical care for the devastating effects of Wednesday night’s events. She is critically ill, unconscious, intubated and receiving breathing assistance through a ventilator.”
She is reportedly being treated for 'the serious effects of the pentobarbital administered during the execution attempt, including significant injuries to both arms'.
During his interview with CNN, Ferrell said he believes that Pike's sentence should be reduced from a death sentence to a life sentence.
"We don't know what her physical state will be, but it is clear that she has endured a tortuous attempt at executing her, and we had already asked that the governor commute her for many good reasons.
"She's spent over 30 years in prison, most of that in solitary confinement, only to be taken out and not executed, but tried to execute her.
"We don't know right now, and we may never know, what kind of torture she endured during that process."
Pike has spent three decades on death row after she was convicted of the murder of Colleen Slemmer, which took place in 1995. Pike was just 18 years old at the time of the murder.
She was sentenced to death in March 1996.
However, in the weeks leading up to her execution, Pike's attorneys filed a clemency, in which they asked Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee to commute her death sentence to life without parole. They argued that she was just 18 at the time, and had a history of severe childhood abuse.
If her execution had been successful, she would have been the first woman to have been executed in Tennessee for 200 years.
In regards to her execution, The Tennessee Department of Correction has insisted that they did everything correctly.
"The Tennessee Department of Correction followed every step of the State's lawful, established execution protocol approved by the Attorney General's Office," a spokesperson said.
"The lethal injection chemical in the protocol has consistently been effective, and the protocol does not allow for additional procedures beyond what was carried out this evening. Christa Pike has been transported to an off-site medical facility."
Kiesha Dosanjh