The convicted murderer who surviveda botched execution attempt in the US state of Tennessee last week has been discharged from hospital and returned to prison, her lawyers said Saturday. Christa Pike, 50, was administered two lethal doses of the drug pentobarbital on September 30 that failed to kill her. Read moreChrista Pike 'angry and confused' after surviving Tennessee execution attempt She was transported to hospital in critical condition but later regained consciousness, with her lawyers saying this week that she was walking around but in a "foggy" mental state.
"Christa Pike was discharged from a local hospital and is now at Deborah K. Johnson Rehabilitation Center where she has been housed for more than 30 years," her lawyers said in a statement Saturday. Pike was sentenced to death in Tennessee for murdering a classmate, a crime committed when she was a teenager.
"She is grateful to the first responders and her medical team for their care in these extraordinary circumstances," the statement went on. Pike "is continuing to receive medical care at the prison, and we will continue to track her recovery", the lawyers said. The attempted execution came after days of last-minute legal wrangling that ultimately reached the Supreme Court.
Pike's legal team had previously objected to the execution IV protocol, saying it would have caused needless suffering due to her small veins and a blood condition. Since the botched execution, her lawyers have repeatedly called on Governor Bill Lee to commute her sentence to life in prison. Lee has suspended executions in Tennessee pending an independent investigation.
Tennessee death row inmate Christa Pike survives two lethal injections To display this content from YouTube, you must enable advertisement tracking and audience measurement. One of your browser extensions seems to be blocking the video player from loading. To watch this content, you may need to disable it on this site.
Cover image: Tennessee: Death row inmate survives two lethal injections © Pike's stunning survival renewed focus on the ethical debate surrounding capital punishment in the United States. That debate has intensified following the Pentagon's announcement this week that it intends to livestream an execution by firing squad later this year. The move has prompted outrage from a broad array of public figures in the United States, including many Republicans supportive of the death penalty.
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