Botched Tennessee Execution: Christa Pike Now Able to Walk

Christa Pike has stood up and walked around her hospital room for the first time since a failed execution in Tennessee, according to Stephen Ferrell, a member of her legal team. It comes just over a week after the 50-year-old survived two lethal injections.

Pike was taken from the execution chamber to hospital on 30 September, unconscious but alive, after receiving two doses of the barbiturate pentobarbital. She was declared brain dead on Monday, but regained consciousness and began speaking on Tuesday.

Physical and mental condition

Ferrell told the BBC that Pike's arms are badly injured and she can barely use them. He said her thinking remains foggy: she easily loses her train of thought and forgets where she is going. Her team is seeking psychological support for her. Ferrell said he expects improvement but that permanent damage cannot be ruled out. Another attorney, Randy Spivey, said on Wednesday that Pike also has pneumonia and a blood clot, and is still shackled to her hospital bed.

The execution

One of her lawyers called the process cruel and torturous, saying he counted seven needles in her left arm, one of which appeared bent when removed. Pike lifted her head during the procedure to say her arms were burning. Her lawyers had warned beforehand that finding her veins would be difficult, yet the state pressed ahead and the US Supreme Court allowed it. Medical experts speculate that the drug may have entered tissue, a vein may have blown, or the drug may have been faulty.

Background of the case

In 1995, Pike, then 18, and her 17-year-old boyfriend Tadaryl Shipp killed 19-year-old classmate Colleen Slemmer in Tennessee. Prosecutors say Pike feared Slemmer was trying to take Shipp from her. Shipp received a life sentence with the possibility of parole, while Pike has spent 30 years on death row. Her attorneys argue her original defence team failed to present evidence of childhood abuse.

Tennessee Governor Bill Lee denied her clemency request, but has since halted the state's remaining executions this year and ordered an independent review of what happened.