Christa Pike walking and speaking after failed Tennessee execution, lawyer says
publishers 48articles 56first reported 4 Oct, 14:45 UTCdeveloping since 4 Oct · 13 editions
Christa Pike is speaking and taking limited steps in a hospital after surviving Tennessee’s attempt to execute her by lethal injection on September 30, according to her legal team.
Lawyer Stephen Ferrell told the BBC that Pike, 50, had begun walking short distances around her hospital room but remained mentally “foggy” and could easily lose her train of thought. Her attorneys previously said she was conscious and receiving critical care, with severe injuries to her arms and an unclear prognosis.
Tennessee halted the execution after administering two doses of pentobarbital when officials determined Pike had not lost consciousness and still had a heartbeat, according to CBS News. She was taken to a Nashville hospital, where she was initially unconscious and placed on a ventilator.
A Davidson County court has ordered Tennessee to preserve evidence connected to the execution attempt. Pike’s lawyers allege that intravenous lines were improperly placed or failed, causing some of the drug to enter tissue rather than her bloodstream. The Tennessee Department of Correction has maintained that its personnel followed protocol.
Gov. Bill Lee announced a third-party review, canceled Tennessee’s remaining executions scheduled for 2026 and said Correction Commissioner Frank Strada would resign. Pike’s attorneys are seeking commutation of her sentence to life without parole.
Pike was sentenced to death in 1996 for participating in the 1995 murder of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer. Whether Tennessee will seek to execute Pike again remains unresolved.
HOW THIS STORY WAS MADE
Written from 8 articles, 4 with the publisher's own text; 8 independent newsrooms once syndicated copies count as one (7 if wire copies count as one too); this version written 102 h after the record first saw the story; the editor kept it as written.
- Publishers
- 48
- Source articles
- 56
- Given to the writer
- 8, 4 with the article's own text
- Independent newsrooms
- 8 (7 if wire copies count as one)
- This version written
- 102 h after the record first saw the story
- Second model (editor)
- kept as written
- Publication gate
- passed
- Human review
- none
WHAT THE EDITOR DID
The second model checked the writer's draft against the same sources and published it as written.
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