Photo Credit: Getty Images
Christa Pike has regained consciousness and begun speaking after surviving two lethal injections in Tennessee, but her lawyers say she remains seriously ill and has been unable to eat because she cannot swallow.
Pike has spent days receiving critical care in a Nashville hospital after surviving two doses of pentobarbital during her attempted execution on Sept. 30. Her attorneys said Wednesday that she has pneumonia, a blood clot in one arm, significant swelling in both arms and cannot move either arm.
"She has a clot on her arm, she has pneumonia, she is not able to swallow yet —so she has not eaten — and she cannot move either of her arms," attorney Randy Spivey said outside Davidson County Chancery Court.
Her condition had appeared far more critical just days earlier. Spivey said the legal team was told Monday night that Pike was believed to be brain dead and that life support would likely be withdrawn the following day.
Then, in what Spivey described as a "shock to everyone," Pike woke up Tuesday and began talking.
Her first questions were reportedly, "Where am I?" and "Who are you?" Spivey said she woke up "angry and confused," with a tube down her throat and surrounded by people she did not recognize.
Pike has only limited memories of the execution and is still trying to understand what happened. Her attorneys said she is, however, "very aware that the state tried to execute her." She also asked about the family of Colleen Slemmer, the woman she was convicted of murdering in 1995.
The failed execution has left Pike with serious physical complications. Her lawyers have said the two doses of pentobarbital caused extensive damage, while medical expert Dr. Joel Zivot previously said the intravenous lines may have failed, leaving much of the drug deposited into the soft tissue of her arms rather than reaching her central circulation.
Despite being unable to use her arms, Pike remains shackled and handcuffed to her hospital bed. Her lawyers have asked the court to remove at least the restraints on her hand, saying medical staff requested that they be taken off.
During Wednesday's hearing, Judge Chancellor I'Ashea Myles ordered Tennessee officials to preserve evidence connected to the failed execution, including IV lines, syringes and related materials. The court also requested documentation concerning Pike's psychological condition before, during and after the execution attempt.
Pike's attorneys have requested greater access to her, including phone and tablet access and 48 hours' notice before any transfer from the hospital.
Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee has paused executions following the incident. The state has not said whether Pike's execution will ever be rescheduled.
