Christa Pike: Pain Persists After Tennessee Lethal Injection Failure

Christa Pike described a month of unceasing physical and mental anguish in a statement released Friday. Pike, 50, said she has been in constant pain since surviving a lethal injection in Tennessee on Sept. 30.

The former death row inmate was scheduled to be executed for the 1995 stabbing death of 19-year-old classmate Colleen Slemmer. Pike was 18 at the time of the crime. During the attempt, the state administered two doses of pentobarbital. Pike survived and was hospitalized before returning to the Debra K. Johnson Rehabilitation Center.

In her first public comments since the incident, Pike said she expected to die peacefully but instead woke up confused in a hospital bed. She attributed the failure to institutional shortcomings. “I’m deeply hurt by the incompetence that has put so many people in this terrible position,” Pike said.

Pike detailed her physical symptoms in the statement dictated to her legal team from a prison infirmary. She reported pain in her body, arms, hands, and throat. She also noted that she still struggles to speak. “There is pain in my mind and in my soul,” she added.

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee responded to the failed execution by calling for an investigation. He also postponed the state’s other lethal injection scheduled for this year. Lee told reporters this week that he expects Pike’s sentence to remain unchanged unless courts rule otherwise.

Pike’s attorneys have urged the governor to reduce her sentence to life imprisonment. Pike said she remains thankful to the medical workers who saved her life. She also acknowledged the kindness of people who reached out to her after the event.

Pike said she did not contemplate a life beyond her execution date before the event. Now, she is focusing on healing one day at a time. She held on to the support from others who reminded her she was not alone. The statement closed with her admission that finding hope remains difficult on some days.