US lethal injection survivor returns to prison

WASHINGTON DC: Convicted murderer Christa Pike, who survived a botched execution attempt in the US state of Tennessee last week, has been discharged from hospital and returned to prison, her lawyers said Saturday (Oct 10).

Pike, 50, was given two doses of the drug pentobarbital on Sep 30 - a usually fatal dose that nevertheless failed to kill her.

She was transported to hospital in critical condition but later regained consciousness, with her lawyers saying this week that she was walking around but in a "foggy" mental state.

Pike is the only inmate to ever survive after being injected with lethal doses of execution drugs, according to the Death Penalty Information Center (DPI).

"Christa Pike was discharged from a local hospital and is now at Deborah K Johnson Rehabilitation Center where she has been housed for more than 30 years," her lawyers said in a statement Saturday.

"She is grateful to the first responders and her medical team for their care in these extraordinary circumstances," the statement went on.

Pike "is continuing to receive medical care at the prison, and we will continue to track her recovery," the lawyers said.

Pike was sentenced to death in Tennessee after she and her boyfriend beat and killed 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer at a job training camp. Pike was 18 at the time of the murder.

DEBATE OVER DEATH PENALTY

The attempted execution came after days of legal wrangling that ultimately reached the Supreme Court.

Pike's legal team had previously objected to the execution IV protocol, saying it would have caused needless suffering due to her small veins and a blood condition.

Since the botched execution, her lawyers have repeatedly called on Tennessee Governor Bill Lee to commute her sentence to life in prison.

Lee, who is a Republican, has suspended executions in Tennessee pending an independent investigation.

Pike's stunning survival renewed focus on the ethical debate surrounding capital punishment in the United States.

That debate has intensified following the Pentagon's announcement that it intends to livestream a military execution by firing squad later this year.

Nidal Hasan, a onetime US Army psychiatrist, is scheduled to be put to death on Dec 3 at Fort Hood, Texas, where he gunned down 13 people in 2009.

The decision to livestream the execution has prompted outrage from a broad array of public figures in the United States, including many Republicans who support the death penalty.

US President Donald Trump indicated Saturday he could still decide against the livestreaming.

"There are two thoughts: don't show it and show it," Trump told reporters at the White House. 

"Because you know by showing it, maybe other people won't be doing what he did. So I'll make a decision ultimately."

Pope Leo, the first American pontiff, posted Saturday on X that "the death penalty is inadmissible because it is an attack on the inviolability and dignity of the person".

"The common good can be safeguarded and the requirements of justice can be met without recourse to capital punishment," he said.

The death penalty has been abolished in 23 of the 50 US states, while three others - California, Oregon and Pennsylvania - have moratoriums in place.

The federal government instituted a moratorium under president Joe Biden, but Trump's administration lifted it when he returned to office in 2025.