Christa Pike, a death row inmate in Tennessee, US, is in "critical condition receiving life-saving care" in hospital after surviving two lethal injections. This prompted the state's governor to halt all executions for this year.
"We don't have any idea of her condition or many updates on her health at this time," her lawyer Randy Spivey told reporters Thursday. "But we do know that she is alive now."
Her lawyers are now seeking to have her sentence commuted. Pike, 50, was sentenced to death in 1996 for the murder of her classmate Colleen Slemmer.
She was injected with two lethal doses of pentobarbital on Wednesday but survived, her lawyers said. She was then taken to the hospital by ambulance. Pike was 18 when she and her then-boyfriend, Tadaryl Shipp, beat, tortured and killed 19-year-old Slemmer.
Her execution was the subject of a last-minute legal battle. It culminated in the U.S. Supreme Court allowing lethal injections to be carried out. Slemmer's mother, May Martinez, who was among those who wanted the execution to take place and who traveled to Tennessee to witness it, told NBC News after the failed attempt that "it was a mess."
On Thursday afternoon, Pike's lawyers provided more details about what happened during the attempted execution, describing a horrific scene shrouded in secrecy.
The lawyer said witnesses were kept in a dark room behind a closed curtain after the second lethal dose was administered, but "it was clear that Ms. Pike was still breathing" minutes later. "Nobody knew what was going on behind that curtain," Spivey said. "I had no idea when or if medical professionals began to help."
Spivey said the state governor should now commute Christa's sentence, a request that was previously denied. Stephen Ferrell, another attorney for Pike, said they were also considering other legal options. Tennessee Governor Bill Lee has ordered an independent investigation.
This is the second time in 2026 that Tennessee officials have tried and failed to execute a prisoner. In May, the execution of Tony Carruthers was called off after staff were unable to find a vein to administer a lethal injection. Carruthers was given a one-year reprieve.
While President Trump called the failed execution of Christa Pike an "interesting situation," he refused to give his opinion on further steps, saying that it is up to the state of Tennessee. ©LAPSI.al
