Tennessee Governor issues update on fate of Christa Pike following botched execution
Tennessee Governor Bill Lee has issued an update regarding Christa Pike after the death row inmate's botched execution.
Pike was set to be executed on September 30 but remarkably survived two doses of a lethal drug.
She was left unconscious and in a critical condition, with her lawyers saying she was just hours from having her life support withdrawn in hospital.
Pike's representatives said she suffered severe swelling in her arms, pneumonia and a blood clot while in hospital, with her attorney Randy Spivey describing her failed execution as 'cruel' and 'torturous'.
Advert
The convicted killer's condition improved after she gained consciousness and began talking. She was walking a soon while after and Pike has since been discharged from hospital and is continuing her recovery at the Debra K. Johnson Rehabilitation Center in Nashville.
An attorney for Pike recently told TMZ that Pike is continuing to improve physically and is walking more on her own.
The attorney went on to say that Pike is now able to communicate more clearly and is also now forming full sentences.
Gov. Lee recently spoke with WSMV and suggested that it's likely Pike will still be executed unless the courts intervene.
"As it related to a particular individual like Christa Pike and her crime, she’s still incarcerated under the laws of the State of Tennessee," Lee told the outlet.
"I suspect her sentence will be the same as before unless determined otherwise by the courts."
After Pike was released from hospital back into prison, her lawyers said in a statement: "She is grateful to the first responders and her medical team for their care in these extraordinary circumstances.
"She is continuing to receive medical care at the prison, and we will continue to track her recovery."
Her legal team also addressed the mental fallout from the botched execution.
“Christa is dealing with the profound psychological trauma of having survived a failed execution, including the terror, pain and uncertainty of believing she was about to die,” they said.
Pike was placed on death row more than three decades ago after she was found guilty of murdering Colleen Slemmer in 1995.
She her then-boyfriend, Tadaryl Shipp, and her friend Shadolla Peterson lured Slemmer to her death in the woods in Knoxville, with Slemmer beaten and stabbed before having a pentagram carved into her chest.
Topics: Christa Pike, Death Row, US News, Crime
Callum Jones