Christa Pike asked ‘Where am I?’, in her first words since gaining consciousness following the botched execution in Tennessee. Her lawyer shared details of the death row inmate being ‘angry and confused’ in the hours after the execution attempt.
Pike is believed to be the first person to survive after getting lethal injections during an execution. Attorney Randy Spivey shared that she woke up just as plans were being made to remove her from life support. She was on life support for about six days from the execution attempt.
“But on Tuesday, to the shock of everyone … Christa woke up and began talking,” her lawyer said.
Spivey added that Pike is aware of what happened to her, at least up to a point. She was sentenced to death for the 1995 murder of Colleen Slemmer.
What Christa Pike said after waking up?
After waking up, Pike’s first words were “Where am I?” and “Who are you?”, as per Spivey. He shared during a news conference “She is angry and confused about everything right now.”
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As per her lawyer, she still faces a long road to recovery. Pike reportedly cannot move her arms or swallow, and also has some ‘cognitive confusion’. Pike also has pneumonia and a blood clot, in her arm, her lawyer shared. Pike hand’s were also reportedly very swollen.
What’s next for Christa Pike?
Pike’s lawyers have said that she suffered enough and want the governor to commute her sentence. A Nashville judge also directed that the state should save evidence from the execution attempt as Pike’s attorneys try to find out what went down.
What happened in the execution remains unclear. Pike’s attorneys said in the court filing that “apparently at no point did any member of the execution team realize that the IV lines were not correctly placed or that the veins had blown.”
The attempted execution started with Pike getting a chance to make a final statement. About five minutes later, Pike raised her head, saying her arm was hurting. She appeared to lose consciousness at some point, but could be heard breathing heavily. Media were then escorted from the witness room almost 90 minutes into the execution. Pike was moved to a hospital in an ambulance.
Dr. Joel Zivot, an anesthesiology and surgery professor in Atlanta, consulting as an expert for Pike’s legal team, said it could be weeks or months before one knew what her recovery might look like, and if competency could be restored so the state could try again to execute her.
(With AP inputs)