Christa Pike makes 1st public statement since failed execution

Christa Pike, the Tennessee death row inmate, has made her first public statement since the state botched her attempted execution by failed lethal injections.

In a statement viewed by the Associated Press that she dictated to her legal team, Pike, 50, said she has been in constant pain since she survived two doses of pentobarbital on Sept. 30 for the 1995 stabbing death of 19-year-old classmate Colleen Slemmer.

Pike was 18 when she and her boyfriend tortured and killed Slemmer; her punishment made her one of the youngest women to be sentenced to death.

1:50 Christa Pike is conscious and speaking after failed execution, lawyers say

“There hasn’t been a moment since that night when I haven’t been in pain. 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,” Pike said.

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“I’m deeply hurt by the incompetence that has put so many people in this terrible position,” she said. “I continue to think about my victim’s family and the terrible pain and loss they have endured,” she continued.

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Tennessee Governor Bill Lee ordered a third-party investigation into the failure and ruled that a remaining state execution scheduled for this year will not take place. The state’s prison chief, Frank Strada, resigned; his last day is Oct. 31.

Former U.S. Attorney Ed Stanton will lead the review of what happened in Pike’s death chamber.

In her statement, Pike said she has struggled to contemplate life after surviving her execution, but was grateful for the medical staff who took care of her and for those who have shown kindness.

“I don’t know why I survived that night,” she said. “I don’t know what comes next. Some days, finding hope is harder than others. For now, I am trying to heal, one day at a time.”

“I am holding on to the love and kindness of so many people who have reminded me that I am not alone,” she added.

1:36 Death row inmate Christa Pike receives 2 doses of lethal injection, survives

Pike’s lawyers said at least seven needles were placed in her left arm and that she arrived in hospital with swelling and blisters on both arms, and that she remained awake and lucid, and complained of burning sensations for much of the lethal injection procedure.

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In a court filing earlier this month, her legal team argued that faulty IV lines may have caused the drug to flow into her body instead of her bloodstream, leaving her unconscious and on a ventilator.

Pike’s lawyers have urged Lee to reduce her sentence to life imprisonment. He told reporters this week that he suspects her sentence will be the same as before “unless determined otherwise by the courts.”

Friday’s statement was dictated to her legal team from the infirmary at the prison where she is housed. Pike was moved back to prison at the Debra K. Johnson Rehabilitation Center after being discharged from the hospital.

— with files from the Associated Press

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