The 50-year-old death-row inmate can speak but still needs intensive medical care, her lawyers said. They planned to seek information in court on Wednesday.
Christa Pike's lawyers said on October 6 that the death-row inmate had regained consciousness and was able to speak. She remains in hospital and continues to receive intensive medical care. Her lawyers said doctors would be able to assess her condition fully, including through neurological tests, in about a week. The Associated Press independently reported the lawyers' statement and a court hearing scheduled for Wednesday.
Tennessee attempted to carry out Pike's death sentence on September 30. Her lawyers said she was given two doses of pentobarbital but did not die; she was taken to a Nashville hospital, where she was initially unconscious and on a ventilator. The attorneys called her recovery medically unprecedented but said the prognosis remained unclear. They also reported serious injuries to her hands.
Before the execution, the defense had cited Pike's thrombocytosis and very small veins, arguing that these conditions increased the risk of pain and complications during the injection. Anesthesiologist Joel Zivot, who advised the defense, had previously suggested that the drug may have entered tissue beneath the skin rather than the bloodstream. That remains an expert's theory, not a published investigative finding.
Tennessee authorities have not explained what caused the procedure to fail or said whether they will attempt another execution. Gov. Bill Lee ordered an independent review and suspended executions in the state through the end of the year. The head of the state Department of Correction announced his resignation. The department had previously said it followed the approved protocol.
Pike was convicted of the 1995 murder of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer; Pike was 18 at the time. Her then-boyfriend, Tadaryl Shipp, was also involved, according to the case record. Pike's lawyers planned to appear in a Nashville court on October 7 and said they would hold a news conference.