Killer Christa Pike combating ‘blood clot and pneumonia’ whereas cuffed in hospital
Speaking outside court, Christa Pike’s lawyers issued a major health update. Pike is fighting a blood clot and pneumonia, and hasn’t yet eaten because she is ‘unable to swallow’
Christa Pike survived two lethal injections in an unprecedented case(Image: AP)
Death Row killer Christ Pike’s lawyers have issued a major update outside a court stating she has a blood clot and pneumonia, and can’t swallow. It comes after they revealed the botched execution victim was “awake and talking” in hospital where she is currently shackled with “severely burned” arms.
Speaking outside court where her lawyers got an order to preserve all evidence from the horror execution attempt, her counsel issued a major health update. Pike is fighting a blood clot and pneumonia, and hasn’t yet eaten because she is “unable to swallow”.
They said that she can’t move either of her arms and both hands are extremely swollen, adding that they don’t know what functions she will be able to regain. The lawyer added that they had “no explanation” for how Pike survived and initially thought she was braindead.
Emergency vehicles arrive at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution after the botched execution(Image: Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)
Luke Ihnen, Christa Pike’s defence lawyer, said he was frustrated over how the state was dealing with the case and accused them of trying to conceal the true events surrounding what happened.
“Today’s hearing was about transparency,” Ihnen said. He added that it showed “why Christa, the courts, the media and the public should not simply take the state’s word about what happened last Wednesday”.
He continued: “As we saw a little bit today, their word is shrouded in secrecy, and legal jargon and attempts to obfuscate and obscure what really happened.”
Pike is said to be fighting a blood clot and pneumonia, and can’t move her arms(Image: AP)
In the court hearing prior to the press conference outside, Ihnen said Pike will “likely survive again” if a second execution attempt is given the greenlight. There’s still uncertainty around whether Pike will undergo a second execution attempt, but it comes after she reportedly requested to be hanged the first time because of her “small veins”.
Speaking at a hearing in Tennessee, the judge said she underwood “all executions have been suspended for now”, asking assistant attorney general John W Ayers if he could confirm if this would be made permanent or if the state was prepared not to reschedule the execution.
Ayers said he “can’t answer that question”, as he is “not in a position to”. In a health update following the news that Pike was now conscious and talking, her lawyer Luke Ihnen said she would have felt a vivid feeling of drowning despite seeming drowsy during the attempt.
Pike was convicted of the murder of Colleen Slemmer (pictured)(Image: WVLT 8)
The court heard Pike has narrow veins and had struggled with drawing blood before, with staff often using a butterfly needle. Reports suggest she had opted to be hanged instead. Pike had a “history of difficulty with blood draws and needle insertion”, Luke Ihnen read out.
“Prison medical staff often use a butterfly needle on her arm to draw blood, because her veins are so difficult to access.” It was likely that those “physical characteristics would interfere with the proper delivery of the poison”, Ihnen added. “[She was] sharply awakened with the sensation of drowning… being tortured as they are executed.”
He concluded that she was likely to survive again if another execution is scheduled: “The state has made no promises that Ms Pike will not be subject to a future execution. And the evidence that we are seeking to preserve now is relevant for any future challenge that she makes. Because, as we pled in January, the same thing is likely to happen.”
Pike, 50, survived two doses of pentobarbital as executioners attempted to put her to death September 30 for the 1995 beating and stabbing death of classmate Colleen Slemmer. Pike is believed to be the only person to survive after lethal injection drugs were administered.
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