Christa Pike's legal team make emergency demand as she shares first statement after botched execution
Christa Pike is back in isolation after spending three decades in solitary confinement, despite a legal agreement intended to give her access to other inmates.
Following her failed execution, her lawyers are asking a federal judge to intervene.
Pike's legal team filed an emergency motion accusing the Tennessee Department of Correction (TDC) of keeping her in 'indefinite isolation' at the Debra K. Johnson Rehabilitation Center in Nashville.
The filing argues that this breaches a 2024 settlement between Pike and the state.
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Pike, 50, was returned to the prison infirmary on October 9 after being discharged from hospital.
She had survived two lethal injections on September 30. Her lawyers say she has remained separated from the female prison population ever since.
The 2024 settlement ended the solitary confinement conditions Pike had experienced for around 30 years.
Under the agreement, she was permitted to work, eat meals and exercise alongside other women at the facility.
Her attorneys argue those terms are being ignored. The motion says Pike has been denied the chance to work, share meals or socialize with other women at the center.
It also claims officials have refused her request to be housed with other women receiving temporary medical care.
According to the filing, prison officials have said Pike will remain isolated 'until further notice'.
Her lawyers are asking the US District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee to enforce the settlement and direct the department to end the isolation.
The motion describes Pike as recovering from injuries the state inflicted during the execution attempt.
It was filed on an emergency basis, with her attorneys arguing that every additional day in isolation causes further physical harm.
The 43-page filing includes a declaration from Pike, in which she describes spending most of the day alone in the infirmary.
She alleges that the shower there is 'roach-infested' and says she is being made to clean it herself, putting her at risk of infection and further injury.
Pike's declaration says she has made one visit to a hospital emergency room since returning to the facility, although she was not admitted. She also reports severe burns, nerve damage, difficulty sleeping and what she describes as severe psychological trauma.
Her lawyers, Angie Bergman, Brian Roark and Hannah Webber of Bass Berry & Sims, said in a statement to PEOPLE that they had repeatedly warned the department that the conditions were harmful and breached the settlement.
"The motion was filed on an emergency basis because each day of continued isolation causes further harm to [Pike]," the attorneys said.
Pike's return to isolation follows a period in which the 2024 agreement allowed her to take part in everyday prison life alongside other women.
The latest motion asks the court to ensure those arrangements are restored while she recovers.
UNILAD has approached the TDC and Bass Berry & Sims for comment.
Topics: Christa Pike, Crime
Thomas Bamford