Christa Pike regains consciousness after failed execution attempt in Tennessee

Tennessee attempted to execute Christa Pike on September 30 for the 1995 murder of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer, according to NDTV. Officials administered two doses of pentobarbital, but Pike survived.

Pike, 50, was to have been the first woman executed in Tennessee in more than 200 years, Franceinfo reported. Instead, she was taken from the execution chamber in an ambulance, according to The New York Times.

The failed execution left Pike critically injured and temporarily on a ventilator, her attorneys said, according to ABC. She remained unconscious for several days.

On October 6, her lawyers reported that she was conscious and speaking. CBC reported that she was receiving treatment in hospital, while TMZ placed her at a hospital in Nashville.

The improvement did not mean her recovery was assured. Her lawyers described her recovery as medically unprecedented but said her prognosis remained uncertain, Le Monde reported on October 6. According to CNA, they also said she had suffered severe injuries and faced a long recovery.

By October 7, Euronews reported that Tennessee had suspended executions and that its prison chief had resigned. The same report described Pike's arms as burned and blistered.

Pike remains in hospital. Despite her severe injuries, she is still handcuffed and shackled to her bed, according to The Japan Times. Her ability to speak is the clearest reported improvement, but the available coverage does not establish when she might leave hospital.

Her lawyers want her death sentence commuted to life imprisonment without parole, Deutsche Welle reported. As of October 7, Tennessee's governor had not ruled on repeated requests to commute the sentence, according to the Daily Mail.

A hearing has been scheduled as the question of another execution attempt remains unresolved, according to DIE WELT. The supplied coverage does not give the hearing date or establish that a second attempt has been authorized.

Pike's legal team is also seeking information from the state corrections department, Arab News reported on October 7. Answers about the failed procedure, the pending commutation request and her medical prognosis remain central to what happens next.