After botched execution, US woman is awake and shackled to bed

Christa Pike, a 50-year-old woman convicted of murder in Tennessee, is now awake and speaking limitedly after surviving a botched execution. Pike, who was sentenced to death for the 1995 murder of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer, received two supposed lethal doses of pentobarbital at a Tennessee prison last Wednesday. However, she survived the injections and was rushed to a hospital, where she was initially unconscious and on a ventilator.

Her lawyer, Luke Ihnen, stated that Pike regained consciousness yesterday and is currently shackled to her hospital bed. Pike has no memory of the execution attempt, but she recognizes her own name and thinks it is currently September. Medical staff has requested the removal of shackles, but their request has been denied. An anesthesiologist retained by Pike's lawyers believes she is off the ventilator.

Pike's prognosis remains unclear, but her lawyers expect a long recovery. The case has reignited debate over capital punishment in the United States, leading Tennessee Governor Bill Lee to suspend executions pending an independent investigation. The state's prison chief has also resigned. Pike's survival has raised questions about the effectiveness of the pentobarbital used in her case and whether it had been degraded.

She is the first inmate to survive an execution attempt in Tennessee since its state's death penalty was reinstated in 1982.