Key facts
- Christa Pike said she is in constant pain and struggles to speak after a failed lethal injection in Tennessee.
- Pike was prepared to die peacefully but woke up confused in a hospital bed.
- She blamed the failed execution on "incompetence."
- Pike was sentenced to death for the 1995 stabbing death of 19-year-old classmate Colleen Slemmer.
Christa Pike said Friday that she remains in constant pain and struggles to speak a month after surviving a lethal injection in Tennessee, a failure she blames on "incompetence."
In her first public statement since the execution, Pike said she never contemplated a life beyond her execution date and was prepared to die in peace, but woke up alone and confused in a hospital bed.
Pike, 50, survived two doses of pentobarbital as the state tried to execute her on Sept. 30 for the 1995 stabbing death of 19-year-old classmate Colleen Slemmer. She was hospitalized in the immediate aftermath of the failed execution and then moved back to prison.
Tennessee Governor Bill Lee has called for an investigation into what happened during the failed execution and postponed the state’s other lethal injection scheduled this year.