Lawyers for Christa Pike hold a news conference after a judge ruled that the Tennessee Department of Corrections must preserve all evidence related to Pike’s failed execution, Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2026, in Nashville, Tennessee.
George Walker IV/AP
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George Walker IV/AP
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Christa Pike has started walking and eating again at a hospital a week after surviving a Tennessee execution attempt with deadly drugs, her lawyers said Thursday.
Pike, 50, survived two doses of pentobarbital as the state sought to give her a lethal injection eight days ago for the beating and stabbing death of classmate Colleen Slemmer in 1995. The drug did not kill her and her arms were left burned and blistered, according to her lawyers. During the first days of her hospitalization, Pike was unconscious and on a ventilator.
Her first steps on Wednesday were “limited” and she needed help walking on Thursday, her lawyers said in a statement. She also regained mobility in her arms and was able to eat for the first time.
But lawyers have warned that uncertainties remain over his physical recovery and legal situation after the attempted execution of his death sentence.
Questions remain about Pike’s recovery and his legal record
The failed execution on September 30 has renewed attention to how states implement the death penalty. Texas carried out the first execution in the United States on Wednesday since the attempt in Tennessee.
“While her physical recovery has been remarkable, important questions remain about the long-term effects of what she endured,” her lawyers said in a statement released Thursday. “Christa faces the profound psychological trauma of surviving a botched execution, including the terror, pain and uncertainty of believing she was about to die.”
Pike regained consciousness Tuesday and was able to speak after waking up, they said.
They initially described her as “confused” shortly after regaining consciousness, and said Thursday that she continued to have problems concentrating and remembering. Doctors say it is too early to assess the long-term impacts, the lawyers added.
It’s also unclear if Tennessee will attempt to run it again. His lawyers said they would urge Republican Gov. Bill Lee to commute his death sentence to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
“She should never be subject to another execution attempt,” they said in the statement.
Luke Ihnen, attorney for Christa Pike, speaks during a news conference after a judge ruled that the Tennessee Department of Corrections must preserve all evidence related to Pike’s failed execution, Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2026, in Nashville, Tennessee.
George Walker IV/AP
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George Walker IV/AP
What went wrong during execution remains unclear
Lee has since postponed the only other execution scheduled in the state this year and ordered a review of why the execution failed. The state prison warden resigned after the attempted 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.”
State officials have provided no explanation for what happened.
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.
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