Christa Pike begs to not return to ‘violent’ jail block after botched execution
Death row killer Christa Pike has begged a judge not to move her back to her former prison unit after miraculously surviving a botched double lethal injection
Christa Pike has launched a desperate bid to stop prison bosses returning her to a ‘violent’ unit(Image: J. Miles Cary, Knoxville News Sentinel)
A death row killer who miraculously survived a double lethal injection has launched a desperate court bid to stop prison bosses chucking her back into a “violent” unit. Christa Pike, 50, cheated death on September 30 when an execution attempt descended into chaos.
The convicted murderer was pumped with two doses of pentobarbital using at least ten needles, leaving her in a critical condition. Her lawyers were convinced she was brain dead and expected doctors to switch off her life support on October 5.
However, she stunned medics by waking up and speaking in full sentences, becoming the first person in history to survive the deadly injection.
Pike cheated death on September 30 when an execution attempt descended into chaos(Image: Tennessee Department of Correction/AFP via Getty Images)
Pike is now embroiled in a legal squabble from her infirmary bed at the Debra K. Johnson Rehabilitation Center in Tennessee.
According to US court filings obtained by reporters, Pike is begging a federal judge to keep her away from her old cellblock, complaining that she is now too frail to fend off attacks from fellow cons.
“This pod houses inmates with significant histories of assaults and disciplinary problems,” Pike wrote in the desperate emergency filing.
Pike is now embroiled in a legal squabble from her infirmary bed in Tennessee(Image: AP Photo/George Walker IV)
“In my two years living in this pod…I witnessed multiple assaults by close custody inmates of other inmates and guards, multiple individuals who were undergoing acute psychological breakdowns, and significant danger.
“In my current physical condition, I could not defend myself or get away if another inmate attacked me. I am afraid that I will be seriously hurt if I am moved to that pod while I am this weak.”
The murderer also moaned that returning to the wing would put her at “high risk of infection and further injury” because she would be forced to clean an alleged “roach-infested shower”.
Pike is also demanding to be released from the prison’s medical ward. Her legal team argues that keeping her isolated in the infirmary breaches a 2024 settlement with state corrections bosses that guaranteed her the right to mingle, work and eat with other inmates.
Pike said: “This renewed isolation, coming right after the execution attempt and after twenty-eight years of solitary confinement, is causing me serious psychological harm and trauma. Each day I remain in isolation adds to that harm.”
Prison authorities have shot back, insisting the killer will stay put in medical solitary “until further notice” as she continues to receive treatment.
Pike was condemned to die after carrying out the sadistic 1995 murder of classmate Colleen Slemmer, and was on track to become Tennessee’s first executed woman in over two centuries.
While behind bars, she proved her own ruthless streak in August 2001 by trying to throttle a fellow inmate with a shoestring, landing an extra 25 years on her stretch.
The shambolic execution attempt triggered shockwaves across Tennessee, leading prisons chief Frank Strada to step down while Governor Bill Lee suspended all executions across the state pending an independent probe. The court is yet to rule on Pike’s emergency application.
