Tennessee inmate Christa Pike awake and speaking after failed execution, lawyers say

Christa Pike, a 50-year-old Tennessee inmate, is awake and speaking after a failed execution attempt last week. Her attorneys reported that she is receiving critical medical care at a hospital in Nashville, Tennessee, and is expected to have a long recovery. According to her lawyers, Pike's recovery is "medically unprecedented."

Pike was administered two doses of pentobarbital during the execution attempt, but survived and was transferred to the hospital for treatment. Her attorneys stated that she has severe damage to her arms and remains handcuffed and shackled to her bed. They expressed gratitude to the medical team for providing exceptional care.

Pike was sentenced to death for the 1995 murder of Colleen Slemmer, whom she and her then-boyfriend Tadaryl Shipp beat, tortured, and killed. The failed execution attempt has led to Tennessee Governor Bill Lee suspending all executions for the rest of the year, and the head of prisons in the state plans to resign. Authorities have not yet announced whether they will attempt to execute Pike again or explained what went wrong during the failed execution.

Brief written by urgent.news from CBC News, The Guardian US, ABC News (US), BBC News, BBC World — 5 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.