Christa Pike has been discharged from hospital and returned to a Tennessee prison just 10 days after surviving the state’s attempt to execute her by lethal injection.
The 50-year-old was transferred back to the Deborah K. Johnson Rehabilitation Center, the women’s prison where she has been held for approximately 30 years.
Her lawyers confirmed the development on Saturday, saying she continues to receive medical treatment as officials monitor her recovery.
“Christa remains under medical care, and we will continue to closely monitor her condition and advocate for the treatment she requires,” her legal team said.
Pike also expressed gratitude to the emergency workers and medical professionals who treated her following the failed execution.
Execution failed after two doses
Tennessee attempted to execute Pike on 30 September for the 1995 murder of her classmate, Colleen Slemmer.
Officials administered two doses of pentobarbital, the drug used under the state’s lethal-injection protocol. However, Pike remained alive and was eventually taken from the execution chamber to hospital for emergency treatment.
Her lawyers believe problems with the intravenous lines caused the drug to enter the tissue in her arms instead of flowing properly into her bloodstream.
The execution left Pike unconscious and initially dependent on a ventilator. Her attorneys said she subsequently regained consciousness and recovered sufficiently to walk with assistance, eat normally and breathe without mechanical support.
However, they have reported that she continues to experience pain, problems with her arms and cognitive difficulties involving her memory and concentration.
The long-term effect of the failed procedure remains unclear.
Evidence must be preserved
The failed execution has placed Tennessee’s lethal-injection procedures under intense scrutiny.
A judge has ordered the Tennessee Department of Correction to preserve evidence connected to the procedure, including materials from the execution chamber, medical equipment, surveillance footage and official communications.
Pike’s lawyers are seeking to establish exactly what went wrong and have renewed calls for Governor Bill Lee to commute her death sentence to life imprisonment without parole.
Lee described the failed execution as “deeply disturbing”, paused further executions in the state and ordered an independent investigation.
Tennessee prisons commissioner Frank Strada also announced his resignation following the incident.
No decision on another execution attempt
It remains unclear whether Tennessee will attempt to execute Pike again.
State officials have not promised that a second execution will not be pursued, although no new execution date has been set.
Pike was 18 when she and her then-boyfriend, Tadaryl Shipp, were accused of torturing and killing 19-year-old Slemmer near a job training centre in Knoxville.
Pike was convicted and sentenced to death, while Shipp received a life sentence with the possibility of parole.
Her lawyers have argued that her age at the time of the murder, history of severe abuse and mental-health conditions should be considered in deciding whether her death sentence should be commuted.
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