Christa Pike is walking with help and eating after failed execution
attempt, her attorneys say
[October 09, 2026]
By KRISTIN M. HALL and KIM CHANDLER
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Christa Pike has begun walking and eating again
at a hospital a week after surviving Tennessee’s attempt to execute her
with lethal drugs, her attorneys said Thursday.
Pike, 50, survived two doses of pentobarbital as the state sought to
giver her a lethal injection eight days ago for the 1995 beating and
stabbing death of classmate Colleen Slemmer. The drug didn’t kill her,
and her arms were left burned and blistered, according to her lawyers.
For the first few days of her hospitalization, Pike was unconscious and
on a ventilator.
Her first steps on Wednesday were “limited” and she required some
assistance as she walked on Thursday, her lawyers said in a statement.
She is also regaining mobility in her arms, and she was able to eat for
the first time.
But the lawyers warned uncertainty remains about her physical recovery
and her legal standing after the attempt to carry out her death
sentence.
Questions remain about Pike's recovery and legal case
The failed execution on Sept. 30 has renewed scrutiny of how states
carry out the death penalty. Texas on Wednesday carried out the first
execution in the U.S. since the Tennessee attempt.
“While her physical recovery has been remarkable, significant questions
remain about the long-term effects of what she endured,” her attorneys
said in Thursday's statement. “Christa is dealing with the profound
psychological trauma of having survived a failed execution, including
the terror, pain and uncertainty of believing she was about to die.”
Pike regained consciousness Tuesday and was able to speak after
awakening, they said.
They initially described her as “confused” soon after regaining
consciousness, and said Thursday that she continued to struggle with
concentration and memory. Doctors say it is too early to assess the
long-term impacts, the attorneys added.
It also remains unclear whether Tennessee will try to execute her again.
Her attorneys have said that they will urge Republican Gov. Bill Lee to
commute her death sentence to life in prison without parole.
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Luke Ihnen, attorney for Christa Pike, speaks during a news
conference after a judge ruled the Tennessee Department of
Corrections must preserve all evidence related to the failed
execution of Pike, Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2026, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP
Photo/George Walker IV)
“She should never be subjected to another execution attempt,” they
said in the statement.
What went wrong with the execution remains unclear
Lee has since postponed the state’s only other scheduled execution
this year and ordered a review of why the execution failed. The
state’s prison chief resigned after the execution attempt.
Medical and lethal injection experts have focused on whether a
problem with the IV line caused the drug to pool in her tissue
instead of entering her bloodstream.
Pike’s attorneys wrote in a court filing that “apparently at no
point did any member of the execution team realize that the IV lines
were not correctly placed.”
State officials have offered no explanation of what occurred.
As the process got underway Pike was asked if she had a final
statement and she spoke of being at peace. About five minutes later,
she raised her head and said her arm hurt. Later, she appeared to
lose consciousness but could be heard breathing heavily until media
witnesses were escorted from the witness room nearly 90 minutes into
the execution. An ambulance took her to a hospital.
___
Chandler reported from Montgomery, Alabama. Associated Press writer
Safiyah Riddle in Los Angeles contributed.
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