Christa Pike describes pain in first public statement since botched execution

Christa Pike, who survived lethal injections in Tennessee last month, broke her silence on the botched execution.In a public statement released by her attorneys on Friday, Pike said she is recovering but noted that “healing is not the same as being okay.” Her comments come exactly one month after the execution attempt.“One month ago on September 30, I walked into the execution chamber at Riverbend men’s prison prepared to die. I had made my peace,” Pike said. “Several days later I woke up alone in a hospital confused and in pain,” she added. “There hasn’t been a moment since that night when I haven’t been in pain. My body hurts. My arms hurt. My hands hurt. My throat hurts. I still struggle to speak. And the pain isn’t just physical. There is pain in my mind and in my soul.”After surviving two doses of pentobarbital, Pike was placed on a ventilator and eventually began walking and talking. She was not expected to survive.Pike, 50, was set to become the first woman put to death in Tennessee in over 200 years, but that ultimately didn’t happen.The death-row inmate was incarcerated for over 30 years in connection with the 1995 torture and murder of Colleen Slemmer, 19, in Knoxville. The case was widely known for its brutality. Pike, who was 18 at the time, was accused of slashing Slemmer, carving a pentagram into her chest, and crushing the victim’s skull with a piece of asphalt.The defendant remains on Tennessee’s death row, though it is unclear at this time whether the state will try to execute her again after she survived.LAWYERS WARNED CHRISTA PIKE’S VEINS WERE COMPROMISED BEFORE BOTCHED EXECUTION“I had not contemplated life beyond that night,” Pike said, “and I’m deeply hurt by the incompetence that has put so many people in this terrible position.”Her legal team has asked Gov. Bill Lee (R-TN) to consider granting her clemency, allowing the woman to spend the rest of her life in prison. Lee expects the death sentence to remain in place.