Christa Pike has been discharged from a Tennessee hospital after she survived a botched execution attempt on death row.
Pike, 50, was sentenced to death on first-degree murder charges and was hospitalized after state officials botched a lethal injection.
Her attorneys said in a statement on Saturday that she has been discharged and returned to Deborah K Johnson Rehabilitation Center, where she had served time for over 30 years before she was scheduled to be put to death.
‘She is grateful to the first responders and her medical team for their care in these extraordinary circumstances. She is continuing to receive medical care at the prison, and we will continue to track her recovery,’ her attorneys continued.
Pike has been behind bars since 1995 for the beating and stabbing death of classmate Colleen Slemmer.
Her execution was scheduled for September 30, but she woke up after two failed doses of pentobarbital.
Pike’s arms were left burned and blistered after her lawyers said the doses were injected into her arms and not her veins.
For the first few days of her hospitalization, Pike was unconscious and on a ventilator, her legal team previously said.
Christa Pike survived a botched execution in Tennessee and was rushed to the hospital, where she has since been discharged
Pike was sentenced to death for the fatal stabbing of her classmate. She is pictured above receiving her sentence in 1996
Pike was on Tennessee’s death row for the 1995 beating and stabbing death of classmate Colleen Slemmer
Her first steps on Wednesday were ‘limited,’ and she needed assistance walking on Thursday. She is also regaining mobility in her arms, and she was able to eat for the first time earlier this week.
On Wednesday, a judge ordered the state to preserve all evidence from her failed execution.
Judge I’Ashea Myles said: ‘This case is unique to say the least.’
‘Take special care not to lose, misplace, or accidentally delete any information pertinent to this investigation.’
During the hearing, Pike’s lawyer, Luke Ihnen, asked the judge to remove the shackles on her hospital bed and give her access to a phone.
‘Up until yesterday, our client was unconscious, unable to communicate with counsel, unable to communicate with medical providers,’ Ihnen pleaded.
Assistant Attorney General John Ayers claimed there is no pending execution order for Pike and insisted that the Department of Corrections has already preserved the evidence from Pike’s attempted execution.
He said log books, observation logs, medical waste and products, and electrocardiogram readouts have been saved.
‘It’s my understanding that the IV lines were cut, and so there may be portions of those IV lines that could have been still attached to Ms Pike when she was transported to the hospital,’ Ayers said.
‘It would be premature and prejudicial, quite frankly, to enter an order requiring preservation of that kind of evidence before counsel had a chance to confer on it and get a picture of where that evidence might be.’
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