Christa Pike, a 50-year-old death row inmate, was discharged from hospital on Saturday, 10 days after surviving a failed lethal injection execution in Tennessee on September 30.
Pike's lawyers confirmed her return to prison, where she continues to receive medical care. She survived two injections of pentobarbital, the drug used in lethal injection executions. Medical staff and experts expressed surprise when she regained consciousness and began speaking days after the failed execution.
Pike is believed to be the only person to have survived a lethal injection execution attempt, placing her case in uncharted legal territory.
At a Wednesday court hearing, Tennessee Assistant Attorney General Will Ayers told the judge the state has not determined whether it intends to attempt execution again. The judge ordered Tennessee to preserve all evidence related to the failed injections, which could support future litigation against the state.
When Pike regained consciousness on Tuesday, her first words were "Where am I?" and "Who are you?" according to her lawyer Randy Spivey. At a Wednesday press conference, Pike's legal team reported she was shackled to a bed and suffering from pneumonia, significant arm swelling, and difficulty swallowing. Lawyer Spivey said Pike felt "angry and confused" and that her legal team did not know what toll the experience would take on her mental health.
Pike's attorneys previously indicated she faced a "long road to recovery." It remains unclear what specific medical care she is receiving back at the prison.
Pike was convicted in connection with the 1994 murder of Colleen Slemmer, a 19-year-old she and her then-boyfriend Tadaryl Shipp beat, tortured and killed after meeting at a job training camp for low-income young people. Pike was 18 at the time of the crime.