Christa Pike remains in guarded hospital room and ‘may never recover’ from failed execution attempt

Last week, it was reported that a death row inmate had survived her lethal injection. Now, it’s been said that 50-year-old Christa Pike may never recover from her failed execution. 

Pike was set to be the first woman in Tennessee to be executed in over 200 years, but despite two shots of the injection being administered, she survived. After her failed execution, at the Riverbend Maximum Security Institution, Christa Pike was rushed to hospital. 

Last week it was reported she was instantly “being provided life-saving measures”. Around a day later, in a further update, it was confirmed Pike was in a critical condition and receiving care. It was noted the arm in which the injections had been administered had “turned purple” and there was “blistering and burning around the sites of the injection.”

As of today (October 5th), Christa Pike remains on a ventilator and has not regained consciousness. Her lawyer, Stephen Ferrell, told CNN that we may not know for several more days whether or not she will ever recover, as her condition “remains the same” since she when she first arrived in hospital.

“We don’t know right now, and we may never know what sort of torture she endured during that process, where her consciousness was, what physical pain there was — what mental torture she went through,” he said. “She’s still in the hospital on a ventilator, critically ill. We don’t really know the prognosis yet and may not know for several days.”

via Tennessee Department of Correction

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He said she “may not fully recover” and a long-term prognosis remains “up in the air”. If Pike does recover, her lawyer said “there may be issues about her competence”.

Ferrell added his client is “guarded” in hospital, and it is extremely limited as to who can visit. “I’m not sure who may have seen her,” he said. “I know I have not seen her.”

A big question is whether or not, should she regain consciousness, a second attempt to execute Pike will take place. Her lawyer explained: “The state of Tennessee has not yet said whether it will ultimately try to execute her again.”

Christa Pike was sentenced to death on March 30th 1996, after torturing and killing her classmate who she believed was attempting to “steal” her boyfriend, Tadaryl Shipp. 

Pike was 18 at the time, and alongside a then 17-year-old Shipp, she lured 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer into a woods. They beat her for 30 minutes, carved a pentagram into her chest and forehead and killed her by hitting her head with a large piece of asphalt. They both confessed to the killing, and were convicted of first-degree murder.

For more, like The Tab on Facebook. Featured image via Tennessee Department of Correction.