Christa Pike was nearly taken off life support before waking, lawyers say

What the report says

Christa Pike, a Tennessee death row prisoner whose lethal injection was botched last week, was nearly removed from life support before she regained consciousness in a Nashville hospital, according to her lawyers speaking to reporters on Wednesday. Her attorney, Randy Spivey, said the team believed on Monday night that Pike was brain dead, but she woke on Tuesday and began talking. He said Pike appeared “angry and confused” and did not remember the execution attempt.

Al Jazeera, citing the lawyers and Associated Press, reported that Pike had been scheduled to die by lethal injection on September 30 after being convicted in 1996 for her role in the murder of classmate Colleen Slemmer. After two doses of pentobarbital, she remained alive, making her the first person believed to have survived such an injection in the United States. Her lawyers said her arms and hands were swollen and blistered, and they believe the drug may not have entered her veins as intended.

The failed execution has intensified debate over capital punishment and whether the method can be carried out constitutionally and without unnecessary suffering. Tennessee Governor Bill Lee has ordered a pause on other executions, and a Nashville judge has directed the state to preserve evidence from the attempt, including drugs, syringes, IV lines and related records. The state’s top prison official has also announced plans to resign. Pike’s lawyers say they will seek to have her sentence commuted again.