Christa Pike is making a “remarkable physical recovery” after surviving a botched execution, according to her lawyers.
Pike, 50, survived two doses of lethal injection on September 30. She was believed to be brain dead before regaining consciousness on Tuesday.
She has been held on Tennessee’s death row for the 1995 beating and stabbing death of her classmate, Colleen Slemmer.
“We’re not sure exactly what the long-term effects will be, but she’s clearly not quite back to normal cognitively and may have a long way to go,” Stephen Ferrell, one of Pike’s attorneys with Federal Defender Services of Eastern Tennessee, told ABC News on Thursday.
“There’s a lot of psychological trauma that she’s going through and continues to suffer from. But physically, she is improving remarkably.”
Pike’s arms were burned and blistered after her lawyers said the pentobarbital doses were injected into her arms rather than directly into her veins.
Her attorneys said she remained unconscious and on a ventilator during the first several days of her hospitalization.
Pike took her first limited steps on Wednesday and required help walking the following day. She is also beginning to regain movement in her arms and was able to eat for the first time.
Christa Pike, 50, survived two doses of lethal injection on September 30 and regained consciousness after she was believed to be brain dead
Pike has been on Tennessee’s death row for the 1995 beating and stabbing death of classmate Colleen Slemmer
However, her lawyers cautioned that questions remain about both her long-term physical recovery and her legal status following the failed attempt to execute her.
They initially described Pike as “confused” after she woke up. On Thursday, they said she was still experiencing difficulties with concentration and memory.
It is not yet clear whether Tennessee will seek to execute Pike again. Her attorneys have asked Governor Bill Lee to commute her death sentence to life without parole.
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A judge ordered the state on Wednesday to preserve all evidence connected to the failed execution.
Judge I’Ashea Myles said: “This case is unique, to say the least.”
“Take special care not to lose, misplace or accidentally delete any information pertinent to this investigation.”
During Wednesday’s hearing, Pike’s attorney Luke Ihnen asked the judge to remove the shackles from her hospital bed and allow her to use a phone.
“Up until yesterday, our client was unconscious, unable to communicate with counsel or with medical providers,” Ihnen said.
Pike’s lawyers say she is making a “remarkable physical recovery” after surviving a botched execution
Her lawyers, pictured, said uncertainty remains over Pike’s physical recovery and legal standing after the attempt to carry out her death sentence
The judge did not rule on Pike’s requests, but asked her lawyers and the state to provide more information about how she could use a tablet at the hospital and to prove that medical staff want the shackles removed.
Assistant Attorney General John Ayers claimed there is no pending execution order for Pike and insisted that the Department of Corrections has already preserved the evidence from Pike’s attempted execution.
He said log books, observation logs, medical waste and products, and electrocardiogram readouts have been saved.
‘It’s my understanding that the IV lines were cut, and so there may be portions of those IV lines that could have been still attached to Ms Pike when she was transported to the hospital,’ Ayers said.
‘It would be premature and prejudicial, quite frankly, to enter an order requiring preservation of that kind of evidence before counsel had a chance to confer on it and get a picture of where that evidence might be.’