Christa Pike wakes after botched execution, remains seriously ill

American Christa Pike, who survived two doses of the lethal drug pentobarbital a week ago, has come out of a coma. According to her lawyer, she woke up on Tuesday and speaks “to a limited extent,” while being “upset and confused.” Pike’s condition remains serious: she has pneumonia and cannot swallow, so she is unable to eat.

Her awakening is almost as surprising as the fact that she survived at all: on Monday she was declared brain dead. According to her lawyer Randy Spivey, the first thing she said was: “Where am I and who are you?” She later reportedly asked about the family of Colleen Slemmer, the woman she tortured and killed in 1995 together with her then-partner Tadaryl Shipp. Pike was sentenced to death for that crime.

Serious condition and a long recovery

Besides pneumonia, Pike cannot move her arms, which Spivey says are “extremely swollen.” “Christa faces a long recovery,” the lawyer said.

The defense asked for her to be unshackled from her hospital bed but was refused. “Our understanding is that medical staff have already asked for her to be unshackled, but the Tennessee prison service rejected it,” the lawyers told the court.

Court orders evidence preserved

Judge I’Ashea Myles granted the lawyers’ request and ordered that all materials connected with the failed execution be preserved. The prison service must keep all chemicals, intravenous lines and tubing owned by the state, as well as everything that was in the room during the execution, including waste.

Around Prague, based on reporting by novinky.cz