US death row inmate Christa Pike conscious, speaking after botched execution: Attorneys

Tennessee death row inmate Christa Pike is conscious and speaking nearly a week after a botched execution left her critically injured and temporarily dependent on a ventilator, her attorneys said Tuesday.

Pike, 50, remains hospitalized and is receiving medical treatment after surviving two doses of pentobarbital during a failed execution attempt on Sept. 30 in Nashville, they said in a statement.

“Her recovery is medically unprecedented,” they said. “Her prognosis remains unclear but, at a minimum, we expect a long recovery.”

The attorneys said Pike has suffered “severe damage” to her arms and remains handcuffed to her hospital bed.

Pike was taken to a hospital after the failed execution, where she was treated after being removed from the execution chamber. Her attorneys said she was placed on a ventilator but is now conscious and able to speak.

“We are incredibly grateful to the first responders and the medical team at the hospital who treated Christa like a human and have provided exceptional care to her,” they said.

They said her recovery remains ongoing and that her long-term prognosis is not yet known.

Pike, the only woman on Tennessee's death row, was sentenced to death for the 1995 killing of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer.