NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – Christa Pike, who survived Tennessee’s attempt to execute him by lethal injection, was sent back to prison, her lawyers announced on Saturday.
Pike, 50, has been released from the hospital and is back at the Debra K. Johnson Rehabilitation Center, the women’s prison where she was held for 30 years, her attorneys said in a written statement.
“She is grateful to the first responders and her medical team for the care provided under these extraordinary circumstances. She continues to receive medical care at the jail and we will continue to monitor her recovery,” the statement said.
Pike had been hospitalized since survive two doses of pentobarbital as the state attempted to execute her on September 30 for the stabbing and stabbing death of classmate Colleen Slemmer in 1995. At one point, she was on a ventilator and her lawyers did not expect her to survive. However, they said Pike woke up and began talking and walking with assistance.
The Death Penalty Information Center says Pike is the first person to survive after being given lethal injection drugs during an execution.
The Tennessee Department of Corrections has not said what went wrong during the execution. Medicine and lethal injection experts focused on whether a problem with the IV line was causing the drug to build up in his tissues instead of entering his bloodstream. Pike’s lawyers wrote in a court filing that “apparently, at no time did any member of the execution team realize that the IV lines were not properly placed.”
The failed execution has sparked new scrutiny of how Tennessee carries out death sentences.
Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee has since postponed the only other execution planned in the state this year and ordered a review of what went wrong. The State the prison chief resigned following the execution failure.
As the process got underway, Pike was asked if she had a final statement and she talked about being at peace. About five minutes later, she looked up and said her arm hurt. She later appeared to lose consciousness, but could be heard breathing heavily until media witnesses were escorted out of the witness room, nearly 90 minutes after the execution began. An ambulance took her to the hospital.
___
An earlier version misspelled the name of the prison. It was corrected to Debra K. Johnson Rehabilitation Center, instead of Deborah K. Johnson Rehabilitation Center.
Gn headline
