Christa Pike Conscious and Speaking After Botched Lethal Injections

Christa Pike has reportedly regained consciousness and can now speak following two botched lethal injections that left her critically injured. Pike’s attorneys confirmed her recovery in a statement on Tuesday after she had been placed on a ventilator. “Her recovery is medically unprecedented. Her prognosis remains unclear but, at a minimum, we expect a long recovery,” her attorneys said in a statement. “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,” her attorneys added. “We also want to thank thousands from all over the world who sent messages offering prayers and support for Christa.” Christa Pike, 50, received life-saving medical care after she survived two lethal doses of pentobarbital. Last week, her attorneys confirmed that doctors worked to start an IV line in Pike for roughly an hour with at least seven needles. “One of which appeared to be bent when it was pulled from her arm,” her attorney, Randy Spivey, said last week. “The state continues its efforts despite the very complications that we had warned about in court months earlier.” Spivey began demanding medical professionals start life-saving procedures after Pike was still breathing, despite the lethal injections. “I did not get any information or confirmation that an ambulance was on its way until 8:50,” he said. “I had no idea when and if medical professionals began to assist Christa.” Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee ordered an independent review and postponed the state’s only remaining execution scheduled for this year – for the second time during his seven years in office. Pike’s attorneys said on Tuesday that they will continue asking Gov. Lee to commute her sentence to life in prison without the possibility of parole. In an emergency motion filed in Davidson County Chancery Court last week, Pike’s attorneys said that she “could be heard crying, whimpering, and breathing loudly” during the botched execution, adding that both of her arms were “swollen, burned, and blistered.” Christa Pike was found guilty and sentenced to death for participating in the 1995 murder of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer. At the age of 18, she was the youngest woman to receive a death sentence in the United States at the time.