World · North America · 1 hr ago
Christa Pike says she remains in pain after failed Tennessee execution
Christa Pike says she is in constant pain after surviving Tennessee’s execution attempt last month.
The 50-year-old spoke publicly for the first time from the prison infirmary, saying she woke up confused in a hospital after expecting to die.
Tennessee officials gave Pike two doses of pentobarbital on Sept.
30, but the lethal injection did not kill her.
She was sentenced to death for the 1995 killing of classmate Colleen Slemmer, whom Pike and her boyfriend attacked when Pike was 18.
Pike says she is thinking of Slemmer’s family and is grateful to the medical workers and others who supported her.
Her lawyers want Tennessee’s governor to change her sentence to life imprisonment, but Gov.
Bill Lee says it is likely to stay the same unless courts rule otherwise.
Lee has called for an investigation, and Tennessee has postponed another scheduled lethal injection this year; Pike says she is trying to recover one day at a time.
Christa Pike says she remains in constant physical pain and mental anguish after surviving a failed lethal injection in Tennessee.
She made her first public statement since the execution attempt through her legal team on Friday.
Pike said she still struggles to speak and is trying to heal, but “healing is not the same as being okay.”
Tennessee Governor Bill Lee has paused executions for the rest of the year and ordered an independent review.
Pike’s lawyers have asked Lee to reduce her death sentence to life imprisonment, while Lee has said it is likely to remain unchanged unless the courts decide otherwise.
- Who
- Christa Pike, a 50-year-old Tennessee death-row prisoner.
- What
- She said she remains in pain after surviving a failed lethal injection.
- When
- The execution attempt was on 30 September; she issued her statement on Friday, 30 October 2026.
- Where
- Tennessee. Pike is being held at the Debra K. Johnson Rehabilitation Center in Nashville.
- Why
- Tennessee attempted to execute Pike for the 1995 murder of Colleen Slemmer.
Pike’s legal team
Tennessee Governor Bill Lee and state authorities
Sentence
Pike’s legal team
Pike’s lawyers have urged Lee to replace her death sentence with life imprisonment.
Tennessee Governor Bill Lee and state authorities
Lee said he expects her sentence to remain the same unless the courts determine otherwise.
Failed execution
Pike’s legal team
Pike criticized the incompetence that left her in pain.
Tennessee Governor Bill Lee and state authorities
The Department of Correction has defended the execution method; the reason it failed has not been stated.
Pike and her then-boyfriend killed Colleen Slemmer.
Tennessee attempted to execute Pike by lethal injection, but she survived.
Pike received intensive hospital treatment and was later returned to prison.
Lee paused executions for the rest of the year and ordered an independent review.
Pike released her first public statement since the failed execution.
- Age
- 50
- Execution attempt
- 30 September 2026
- Drug used
- Pentobarbital
- Victim
- Colleen Slemmer
- Crime year
- 1995
- Location
- Debra K. Johnson Rehabilitation Center, Nashville
7 sources
Christa Pike says she feels constant pain in her first statement since failed Tennessee execution
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Christa Pike says she feels constant pain in first statement since failed Tennessee execution
Christa Pike describes constant pain in first statement since failed execution
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What people are saying
There hasn't been a moment since that night when I haven't been in pain.
I’m deeply hurt by the incompetence that has put so many people in this terrible position.
For now, I am trying to heal, one day at a time.
I suspect her sentence will be the same as before unless determined otherwise by the courts.