US inmate Christa Pike describes pain after surviving botched execution
Death row inmate Christa Pike releases first statement since surviving two lethal injections in September, describing ongoing physical and mental pain.
At a glance
- Christa Pike survived two lethal injections of pentobarbital during a botched execution in September 2024.
- She released a statement describing ongoing physical pain and mental anguish after being returned to prison.
- Tennessee Governor Bill Lee paused all executions and ordered an independent review of the failed procedure.
Tennessee death row inmate Christa Pike has issued her first public statement since a botched execution attempt in September, saying she has been in constant pain since the night she received two lethal injections of pentobarbital. The 50-year-old was discharged from hospital at the end of last month and returned to the prison where she has spent three decades.
In a statement released by her legal team on social media on Friday, Pike wrote: "There hasn't been a moment since that night when I haven't been in pain. My body hurts. My arms hurt. My hands hurt. My throat hurts. I still struggle to speak. And the pain isn't just physical. There is pain in my mind and in my soul." Her lawyers previously said she suffered pneumonia, significant swelling on her arms and an inability to swallow after the procedure.
Pike was 18 when she and her then-boyfriend Tadaryl Shipp beat, tortured and killed 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer at a job training camp for low-income young people in 1995. Shipp, who was not legally an adult at the time, was spared the death penalty and remains in prison. Pike became the first woman scheduled for execution in Tennessee in over 200 years.
She is thought to be the only person in the United States to have survived an execution attempt by lethal injection. The Tennessee Department of Correction has not explained why the execution failed, though it has defended the method used. The department declined to comment on Pike's statement.
Governor Bill Lee paused all executions for the remainder of the year and ordered an independent review to determine what occurred. Asked about a possible second attempt, Lee said he suspects her sentence will remain the same unless the courts decide otherwise. Both the US Supreme Court and Lee had declined to block the execution in the days leading up to it.
Source: BBC World.
Questions and answers
- What happened during Christa Pike's execution attempt?
- Pike received two doses of pentobarbital but survived, leaving her in critical condition with pneumonia, swelling, and difficulty swallowing.
- Why was Christa Pike on death row?
- She was convicted of the 1995 torture and murder of Colleen Slemmer when Pike was 18 years old.
- Will there be a second execution attempt?
- Governor Bill Lee said he suspects her sentence will remain the same unless courts decide otherwise, but no date has been set.
