Christa Pike 'angry and confused' after failed execution, lawyers say
Convicted murderer Christa Pike is recovering in a hospital after surviving a botched lethal injection execution in Tennessee. Her legal team reports she is confused and suffering from medical complications following the unprecedented event.
Why it matters
The case raises significant ethical and legal questions regarding the death penalty and the reliability of lethal injection protocols in the United States.
Figure caption, Watch: What we know about Christa Pike’s "unprecedented" recovery after failed execution
A lawyer for convicted murderer Christa Pike says that she woke up in hospital "angry and confused" after she survived a botched execution attempt last week.
Her first words were to ask "Where am I?" and "Who are you?", her lawyer Randy Spivey recalled during a news conference.
Pike, who was sentenced to death after murdering Colleen Slemmer with her then-boyfriend in 1995, survived two lethal injections on 30 September in Tennessee.
Experts and her legal team say her apparent recovery is unprecedented, and that no other US inmate has survived a lethal injection from executioners.
A court on Wednesday ordered the state of Tennessee to preserve all evidence related to the failed execution.
Also covering this story
10 other newsrooms covered this event. We read each version separately.
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