Botched US execution survivor Christa Pike discharged from hospital, returned to prison

Christa Pike, who survived an execution attempt by lethal injection in Tennessee earlier this month, has been discharged from the hospital, according to a statement released by her lawyers on Saturday (Oct 10). Pike has been sent back to prison, where she will continue to receive medical treatment.

Her legal team said that she returned to the Deborah K. Johnson Rehabilitation Center, the women’s prison where she had been incarcerated for 30 years. Pike is continuing to receive medical care at the facility as she recovers from the ordeal.

“She is grateful to the first responders and her medical team for their care in these extraordinary circumstances. She is continuing to receive medical care at the prison, and we will continue to track her recovery,” her lawyers said in a statement.

Pike was sentenced to death for the 1995 murder of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer. She is believed to be the only person to have survived a US lethal injection execution attempt.

A Tennessee judge had earlier ordered authorities to preserve evidence from the execution attempt, potentially laying the foundation for further legal action. Judge I’Ashea Myles ordered the state to retain items from the execution chamber, including IV lines, syringes, packaging, inserts and labels.

She also sought records documenting Pike’s psychological condition before, during and after the attempt, warning the state to take “special care” with potentially relevant information.

Tennessee Governor Bill Lee has paused executions in the state for the remainder of the year while officials investigate what went wrong.