- Pike was administered two doses of pentobarbital, which did not result in death.
- She has been discharged from hospital and returned to custody.
Updated 11 min 0 sec ago
October 10, 2026 22:43
WASHINGTON — Convicted murderer Christa Pike, who survived a botched lethal‑injection attempt in Tennessee last week, has been released from hospital and returned to prison, according to her attorneys.
Pike, 50, received two doses of pentobarbital on September 30 — a quantity normally lethal — yet the drugs failed to kill her.
After being taken to a hospital in critical condition, she regained consciousness; her lawyers reported this week that she is ambulatory but experiencing a “foggy” mental state.
Pike remains the only inmate known to have survived a lethal injection of execution drugs, per the Death Penalty Information Center (DPI).
“Christa Pike was discharged from a local hospital and is now residing at the Deborah K. Johnson Rehabilitation Center, where she has been held for more than three decades,” her lawyers stated in a Saturday release.
“She thanks the first responders and her medical team for their care under these extraordinary circumstances,” the statement added.
“Pike continues to receive medical care at the prison, and we will monitor her recovery,” her counsel said.
Pike was sentenced to death in Tennessee after she and her boyfriend fatally assaulted 19‑year‑old Colleen Slemmer at a job‑training camp; she was 18 at the time of the killing.
– Debate over death penalty –
The attempted execution followed days of legal maneuvering that culminated in a Supreme Court review.
Pike’s legal team had previously objected to the execution’s IV protocol, arguing it would cause unnecessary suffering given her small veins and a blood disorder.
Since the botched execution, her attorneys have repeatedly urged Tennessee Governor Bill Lee to commute her sentence to life imprisonment.
Lee, a Republican, has paused executions in Tennessee pending an independent investigation.
Pike’s remarkable survival has reignited the national debate over the ethics of capital punishment.
That debate has intensified after the Pentagon announced plans to livestream a military execution by firing squad later this year.
Nidal Hasan, a former U.S. Army psychiatrist, is slated for execution on December 3 at Fort Hood, Texas, for the 2009 shooting that killed 13 people.
The decision to broadcast the execution has drawn criticism from a wide range of public figures, including many Republicans who support the death penalty.
President Donald Trump indicated on Saturday that he might still oppose the livestream.
“There are two perspectives: not to show it, or to show it,” Trump told reporters at the White House. “Because airing it could deter others from committing similar acts, I will make a final determination.”
Pope Leo, the first American‑born pontiff, posted on X on Saturday that “the death penalty is inadmissible because it violates the inviolability and dignity of the person.”
“The common good can be protected and the demands of justice satisfied without resorting to capital punishment,” he added.
Capital punishment has been abolished in 23 of the 50 U.S. states, while three others — California, Oregon, and Pennsylvania — maintain moratoriums.
The federal government imposed a moratorium under President Joe Biden, but the Trump administration reinstated federal executions upon returning to office in 2025.