Christa Pike Regains Consciousness After Botched Lethal Injections

Christa Pike has regained consciousness and can now speak following two botched lethal injections that left her critically injured. Pike’s attorneys confirmed her recovery in a statement on Tuesday after she had been placed on a ventilator. "Her recovery is medically unprecedented. Her prognosis remains unclear but, at a minimum, we expect a long recovery," her attorneys stated. They expressed gratitude to the first responders and the medical team at the hospital for their exceptional care. Pike, 50, received medical attention after surviving two lethal doses of pentobarbital. Last week, her attorneys reported that doctors attempted to start an IV line in Pike for roughly an hour using at least seven needles, one of which appeared bent. Attorney Randy Spivey noted that he demanded medical professionals initiate life-saving procedures after observing Pike still breathing despite the lethal injections. He stated, "I did not get any information or confirmation that an ambulance was on its way until 8:50." Tennessee Governor Bill Lee ordered an independent review and postponed the state’s only remaining execution scheduled for this year for the second time during his tenure. Pike’s attorneys indicated they will continue to request that Gov. Lee commute her sentence to life in prison without the possibility of parole. In an emergency motion filed in Davidson County Chancery Court last week, Pike’s attorneys claimed that she could be heard crying and breathing loudly during the botched execution, and that both of her arms were swollen, burned, and blistered. Christa Pike was convicted and sentenced to death for her involvement in the 1995 murder of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer. At 18, she was the youngest woman to receive a death sentence in the United States at that time.