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Christa Pike Discharged From Hospital After Execution Attempt

11:04 PM ETConfirmed

Politics Desk

In Short: Christa Pike, a Tennessee death row inmate, has been discharged from hospital and returned to prison after surviving a botched lethal injection attempt.

Christa Pike, a Tennessee death row inmate, has been discharged from hospital and returned to prison after surviving a botched lethal injection attempt, according to her lawyers and multiple news outlets including Al Jazeera (Qatar) and the BBC (United Kingdom).

Al Jazeera (Qatar) reported that Pike was administered two doses of pentobarbital on September 30, but survived the attempt. The BBC (United Kingdom) confirmed that Pike, 50, was discharged from the hospital and is now back at the Deborah K. Johnson rehabilitation center, where she has been imprisoned for the last three decades.

Both outlets agree that Pike was sentenced to death for the 1995 beating and stabbing of her classmate, Colleen Slemmer, and that the failed execution has drawn renewed scrutiny of the US death penalty system.

Pike's attorneys, including Luke Ihnen, stated that she is now back at the women’s prison where she was housed for 30 years, according to reports from Al Jazeera (Qatar) and the BBC (United Kingdom).

The Tennessee Department of Correction has not provided an explanation for what went wrong during the execution, as reported by outlets such as the BBC (United Kingdom) and Al Jazeera (Qatar).

Pike's legal team has long argued that health issues and a troubled childhood should mean her death sentence should be reduced, citing concerns about her platelet disorder and small veins, which could make lethal injection both painful and ineffective.

Pike's attorneys said in their statement that she was 'grateful to the first responders and her medical team for their care in these extraordinary circumstances', as reported by the BBC (United Kingdom), Breitbart, and the New York Times.

The botched execution sent Pike to a local hospital in Nashville, where she regained consciousness on Tuesday and began the process of walking again on Wednesday, according to the Washington Examiner.

The U.S. Supreme Court allowed the execution to proceed just before 6 p.m., with the curtain shielding the execution chamber dropping for a final time at 8:05 p.m., while witnesses could still hear her 'snoring', as reported by Fox5Atlanta.

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee has since postponed the state’s only other scheduled execution this year and ordered a review of what went wrong, according to The Killeen Daily Herald.

Pike's case has also drawn attention to the military’s plan to livestream the execution of Nidal Malik Hasan, as noted by Al Jazeera (Qatar).

Despite the differing details, all outlets agree that Christa Pike survived the botched lethal injection attempt and has been returned to prison, raising questions about the efficacy and ethics of the death penalty in the United States.

What this adds

Background

What's confirmed

• Christa Pike has been discharged from hospital and returned to a Tennessee women’s prison after surviving the US state’s attempt to execute her by lethal injection, her lawyers said on Saturday.
• Luke Ihnen, attorney for Christa Pike, speaks during a news conference after a judge ruled the Tennessee Department of Corrections must preserve all evidence related to the failed execution of Pike, Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2026, in Nashville, Tenn.
• NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Christa Pike, who survived Tennessee’s attempt to execute her by lethal injection, has been moved back to prison, her attorneys said Saturday.
• Convicted murderer Christa Pike has returned to prison and is recovering from her failed execution, according to a statement from her attorneys.
• However, they said Pike woke up and began talking and walking with assistance.
• Pike, 50, was discharged from the hospital and is back at the Deborah K.
• Photographs of Colleen Slemmer, who was murdered in 1995, are displayed outside Riverbend Maximum Security Institution before the planned execution of Christa Pike, Wednesday, Sept.
• The Tennessee Department of Correction has not said what went wrong in the execution.
• The statement says Pike is back at the women’s prison where she was housed for 30 years.
• Pike survived two doses of pentobarbital as the state attempted to execute her by lethal injection on Sept.
• Pike's lawyers said in their statement that she was "grateful to the first responders and her medical team for their care in these extraordinary circumstances".

What's still developing

• Pike was 18 when she and her then-boyfriend, Tadaryl Shipp, beat, tortured and killed 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer, whom they had met at a job training camp for low-income young people.
• Justice correspondent Ali Rogin discussed questions surrounding the state of capital punishment with Austin Sarat, author of "Lethal Injection and the False Promise of Humane Execution."
• A three-judge panel at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit granted Pike, 50, a stay “until further order of this court,” The Tennessean reported.
• (OSV News) — After Tennessee officials failed in their Sept. 30 attempt to execute death row inmate Christa Gail Pike for a 1995 murder, a number of faith leaders, including Tennessee’s Catholic bishops, have called for her sentence to be commuted to life imprisonment.
• Her scheduled 10 a.m. execution on Wednesday was paused nearly one hour before it was re-scheduled after a federal appeals court requested more time to determine whether Pike’s history of childhood sexual abuse was fully presented when a jury returned a guilty verdict and sentenced her to death.
• Anesthesiologist Dr. Joel Zivot joins Bill Hemmer to discuss the legal fallout after a judge ordered Tennessee officials to preserve evidence from the botched execution of Christa Pike.
• Rain showers early becoming more intermittent overnight.

Sources

• Al Jazeeralink
• BBClink
• Bluefield Daily Telegraphlink
• Breitbartlink
• CBS Newslink
• Caledonian Recordlink
• Dailywirelink
• FOX 8 Local Firstlink
• Gulf Coast News and Weatherlink
• Newsweeklink
• Ottumwa Courierlink
• The Alabama News Wirelink
• The Guardianlink
• The Killeen Daily Heraldlink
• The New York Timeslink
• Tylalink
• ABC News — video link