Inmate survives lethal injection

Christa Pike, fifty, survived two injections of pentobarbital on September thirtieth at a Tennessee prison. She has now been discharged from hospital and returned to prison.

Pike regains consciousness

Pike regained consciousness earlier this week and began speaking, stunning experts, medical staff and her lawyers. Her first words were Where am I and Who are you.

“Where am I? Who are you?”

Unprecedented survival

Pike is thought to be the only person to have survived an execution attempt by lethal injection. Her case is now in uncharted legal and medical territory.

The crime and conviction

Pike was eighteen when she and her then-boyfriend Tadaryl Shipp beat, tortured and killed nineteen-year-old Colleen Slemmer at a job training camp.

Pike's condition after discharge

Pike is suffering from pneumonia and significant swelling on her arms, and is unable to swallow. Her lawyer Randy Spivey said she felt angry and confused about her mental health.

“We don't know the toll all of this will take”

State's next move unclear

At a court hearing on Wednesday, Tennessee Assistant Attorney General Will Ayers told the judge he did not know whether the state intends to try to execute Pike again.