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Christa Pike's anesthesiologist reveals everything the death row inmate can remember from execution attempt
Christa Pike’s anesthesiologist has revealed the known impact the failed execution has had on her and has discussed what the convicted murderer can remember.
Last week, Pike was set to become the first woman in over 200 years to be executed in the state of Tennessee, but an unsuccessful execution saw the 50-year-old rushed to hospital.
Pike was given two doses of the lethal injection, but remained alive, and spent days thereafter unconscious, prompting questions around the future of her death sentence, as well as regarding the state’s protocol around the death penalty.
After the unavailing execution attempt, Pike was unresponsive and reportedly in ‘critical condition’ before news broke that she was both conscious and communicating with officials on Tuesday.
Anesthesiologist reveals what Pike can remember
Speaking to the BBC, Dr. Joel Zivot, an anesthesiologist who had advised Pike’s lawyers, said: “She has some memories of being in the hospital but no memory, I believe, of the execution attempt,” before adding that Pike was capable of communicating in a “basic way.”
According to Zivot, Pike remembered her name, but couldn’t accurately guess the date, believing that it was September, rather than October. He also revealed that she no longer required a ventilator after the pentobarbital was successfully removed from her system following the lethal injections.
Discussing Pike, who had been rushed from Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville to the hospital, her lawyers said: “Against all odds, Christa Pike is conscious, speaking, and continues to receive critical medical care.
“Despite the severe damage she endured to her arms, she is still handcuffed and shackled to the bed. Her recovery is medically unprecedented. Her prognosis remains unclear but, at a minimum, we expect a long recovery.”
Pike's brutal murder of Slemmer
Pike murdered fellow student Colleen Slemmer, alongside her then-boyfriend Tadaryl Shipp. They beat, cut, and disfigured Slemmer, with the girl found with satanic symbols engraved into her chest, as well as a piece of her skull removed, which Pike had reportedly kept.
As such, Pike was handed the death penalty, while Shipp was given life imprisonment due to his age.
After spending over 30 years awaiting what was ultimately a failed execution attempt, Pike’s lawyers requested that Tennessee Governor Bill Lee commute her sentence, stating she “endured punishment greater than any other person in the history of the American death penalty.”
According to her lawyers, “Apparently at no point did any member of the execution team realize that the IV lines were not correctly placed or that the veins had blown and that the pentobarbital was, in whole or in part, entering Ms. Pike’s body.
All scheduled executions in the state of Tennessee have been suspended while authorities carry out an investigation into the procedure that failed to execute Pike, with the ethics also under scrutiny from the public and government officials.