Christa Pike, a 50-year-old Tennessee prisoner, has survived an attempt by state officials to put her to death via lethal injection. Pike received two doses of pentobarbital last Wednesday in an execution attempt that would have made her the first woman executed in Tennessee in more than 200 years.
Attorneys for Pike announced Tuesday that she has regained consciousness and is awake and speaking while receiving treatment at a hospital. While she is conscious, her lawyers stated that she suffered severe injuries and faces a long recovery process. This update is the first indication of her improvement since she was carried away from a Nashville prison by ambulance.
According to the Death Penalty Information Center, Pike is the first inmate ever to survive after being injected with lethal doses of execution drugs. In light of this unprecedented development, Pike's attorneys have renewed their push for the state to commute her death sentence.