Christa Pike, the Tennessee execution survivor, has spoken publicly for the first time since a failed lethal injection left her in constant pain and facing an uncertain future on death row.
Pike, 50, said in a statement released through her legal team that she was struggling to speak after surviving the execution on 30 September. She is being held in solitary confinement while she remains scheduled to die.
“There hasn’t been a moment since that night when I haven’t been in pain,” Pike said, describing the suffering as both “physical and emotional”.
Her lawyers allege that two doses of phenobarbital failed to enter her bloodstream during the procedure. Instead, they say, the drug pooled in her arms, causing burns and blistering.
Pike was unconscious for several days and was taken to hospital after the execution. Her lawyers have told a federal judge that continued isolation has caused “significant psychological harm and trauma”, and are seeking permission for her to interact with other prisoners.
“I had not contemplated life beyond that night, and I’m deeply hurt by the incompetence that has put so many people in this terrible position,” Pike said.
Pike and her boyfriend tortured, stabbed and beat a 19-year-old classmate to death in 1995. She was 18 at the time and was given the death sentence.
The victim’s mother travelled from Florida to witness the execution. Pike said she continued to think about the family and the “terrible pain and loss they have endured”.
Her legal team has also appealed to Tennessee Governor Bill Lee to commute the sentence to life in prison. Lee said last week that he “suspects” the sentence will remain unchanged, “unless otherwise determined by the courts”.
The failed lethal injection has prompted renewed scrutiny of Tennessee’s execution procedures. Lee has ordered an independent review and postponed the state’s other lethal injection scheduled for this year.
Frank Strada, commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Correction, announced his resignation after the botched execution.
