Christa Pike conscious and speaking after failed Tennessee execution; prisons chief resigns
publishers 92articles 130first reported 28 Sep, 21:15 UTCdeveloping since 29 Sep · 17 editions
Christa Pike is conscious and speaking in a hospital after surviving Tennessee’s attempt to execute her last week, her lawyers said Tuesday. She remains in intensive care but is no longer on a ventilator, according to Dr. Joel Zivot, an expert consulting for her legal team.
Pike received two doses of pentobarbital during Wednesday’s execution attempt. Her attorneys allege that improperly placed or failed intravenous lines allowed the drug to enter tissue in her arms rather than her bloodstream, causing severe injuries. They said her prognosis remains unclear and that she faces a long recovery.
Tennessee Department of Correction Commissioner Frank Strada is due to step down later this month, Gov. Bill Lee announced Saturday. Strada said the department followed its established protocol, but that resigning was in Tennesseans’ best interests while an independent review proceeds. Lee appointed former U.S. Attorney Ed Stanton to lead the inquiry and has halted the scheduling of executions for the rest of the year.
Pike’s lawyers called Strada’s departure justified but said the failure extended beyond one official. They are seeking a court order requiring the correction department to preserve records and other evidence from the execution attempt, and ultimately want Pike’s death sentence commuted to life imprisonment without parole.
Pike, now 50, was sentenced to death for the 1995 torture and murder of her former classmate, Colleen Slemmer.
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Written from 8 articles, 6 with the publisher's own text; 8 independent newsrooms once syndicated copies count as one; this version written 144 h after the record first saw the story; the editor kept it as written.
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- Source articles
- 130
- Given to the writer
- 8, 6 with the article's own text
- Independent newsrooms
- 8
- This version written
- 144 h after the record first saw the story
- Second model (editor)
- kept as written
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- Human review
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