50-Year-Old Inmate Reports Constant Pain After Surviving Two Doses of Pentobarbital

Christa Pike described a month of unbroken physical and mental anguish in a statement issued Friday from an infirmary at the Debra K. Johnson Rehabilitation Center. The 50-year-old inmate, who survived a failed execution attempt in Tennessee on Sept. 30, attributed her current condition to administrative failures that left her in a state of confusion and pain.

Pike, who was sentenced to death in 1995 for the stabbing murder of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer, said she had prepared to die. She recounted waking up alone and disoriented in a hospital bed after the state administered two doses of pentobarbital. "There hasn’t been a moment since that night when I haven’t been in pain," she said. "My body hurts. My arms hurt. My hands hurt. My throat hurts. I still struggle to speak. And the pain isn’t just physical. There is pain in my mind and in my soul."

The inmate pointed to a lack of competence as the root cause of the incident. "I’m deeply hurt by the incompetence that has put so many people in this terrible position," Pike said. She also expressed concern for the family of Slemmer, noting that she continues to think about the loss they have endured.

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee responded to the failed procedure by ordering an investigation into the events of Sept. 30. He also postponed the state’s only other lethal injection scheduled for this year. Lee told reporters this week that he expects Pike’s sentence to remain unchanged unless the courts rule otherwise. "I suspect her sentence will be the same as before unless determined otherwise by the courts," Lee said.

Pike’s legal team has formally urged the governor to reduce her sentence to life imprisonment. The statement released Friday was dictated by Pike to her attorneys from her prison infirmary. She had been hospitalized immediately after the failed execution before being transferred back to the rehabilitation center.

Pike expressed gratitude to the medical staff who saved her life and to the community members who offered support. "I don’t know why I survived that night," she said. "For now, I am trying to heal, one day at a time. And I am holding on to the love and kindness of so many people who have reminded me that I am not alone."