Christa Pike Issues First Public Statement After Botched Execution, Bemoans Physical and Mental ‘Pain’

The woman who survived a botched execution attempt, Christa Pike, says she is “deeply hurt by the incompetence” of the authorities who administered what was supposed to be a lethal dose of pentobarbital. In a statement that was dictated to attorneys, Pike said, “My body hurts. My arms hurt. My hands hurt. My throat hurts. I still struggle to speak. And the pain isn’t just physical. There is pain in my mind and in my soul.”The statement marks the first public remarks from Pike after she survived a failed execution attempt on September 30. Pike was convicted of the 1995 murder of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer and sentenced to death.However, after officials reportedly administered two doses of pentobarbital on September 30, Pike was still breathing and was transferred to a nearby hospital — marking the first known case of someone surviving a lethal injection. Pike’s statement said that when she awoke roughly a week after the botched execution, she was “confused and in pain.” She said she had “not contemplated life beyond that night,” and said she has experienced “pain” from being “largely isolated” in the prison’s medical ward. Pike expressed gratitude for the “love and support” she said she has received and added, “I continue[s] to think about my victim’s family and the terrible pain and loss they have endured.”The failed execution has led to questions about Pike’s future, specifically whether the state could try to execute her again, given that the drugs entered her system, unlike in other cases in which executions were halted before the drugs were administered.Tennessee’s governor, Bill Lee, paused executions through the end of the year to give officials time to figure out what went wrong with the execution attempt.Speaking to reporters earlier this week, Mr. Lee said that he thinks the state will try to execute her again.“She’s still incarcerated under the laws of the State of Tennessee,” the governor said. “I suspect her sentence will be the same as before unless determined otherwise by the courts.”Tennessee lawmakers are considering legislation that would eliminate lethal injections as a form of execution and allow for the use of firing squads or the electric chair. A Republican state representative, Jody Barrett, told the Tennessee Lookout that after the “trouble we’ve had” with executions in recent years, he thinks that the state should look at “alternatives.”A Democratic lawmaker, Aftyn Behn, told the Tennessee Lookout that she believes it would be “depraved and ungodly” if the state approved the use of firing squads or hangings for future executions.

Christa Pike Issues First Public Statement After Botched Execution, Bemoans Physical and Mental ‘Pain’

Christa Pike Issues First Public Statement After Botched Execution, Bemoans Physical and Mental ‘Pain’

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