Washington, Oct 7. (dpa/GNA) – A US death row inmate has regained consciousness, a week after surviving a botched execution in Tennessee, but remains confused and unable to move her arms, her lawyers said on Wednesday.
Christa Pike, 50, is experiencing “a lot of cognitive confusion,” her lawyer Randy Spivey told a news conference, following a court hearing in Nashville.
Spivey said his legal team had understood on Monday night that Pike was “brain dead.” To their surprise, however, she regained consciousness the following day.
Her first words after waking up in hospital on Tuesday were: “Where am I and who are you?” Spivey said. She was, however, aware that the state had attempted to execute her.
Spivey described her as “angry.” Pike has a blood clot in one arm and is unable to move either arm, he said. She has also developed pneumonia and is being fed with assistance, according to her lawyers, who said she faced a lengthy recovery.
At a court hearing in Nashville, Judge I’Ashea Myles granted a request from Pike’s lawyers to preserve evidence, relating to last week’s attempted execution.
Her lawyer Luke Ihnen, told the court that the evidence could be relevant if Pike were required to challenge another attempt to execute her in the future.
The New York Times reported that Pike’s medical condition was likely to play a key role in determining whether the state would attempt to execute her again.
Pike survived two doses of pentobarbitalTennessee. Authorities said Pike was given the two doses of pentobarbital, prescribed under the state’s execution protocol a week ago, but she survived.
Pike, who was the lone woman on Tennessee’s death row, was sentenced to death in 1996 for the murder of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer.
Pike was 18 at the time of the killing.
Slemmer was tortured for an extended period before being killed in 1995, in a secluded area near the University of Tennessee in Knoxville.
GNA