Christa Pike says she's in constant pain and blames her failed execution on 'incompetence'

NASHVILLE — 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.

"There hasn't been a moment since that night when I haven't been in pain. My body hurts. My arms hurt. My hands hurt. My throat hurts. I still struggle to speak. And the pain isn't just physical. There is pain in my mind and in my soul," Pike said.

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. Pike was 18 when she and her boyfriend tortured and killed Slemmer, becoming one of the youngest women to be sentenced to death.

"I'm deeply hurt by the incompetence that has put so many people in this terrible position," she said. "I continue to think about my victim's family and the terrible pain and loss they have endured."

Tennessee Gov. 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. The state's prison chief resigned.

Pike said she's thankful for the medical workers who saved her life and the people who showed her kindness.

"I don't know why I survived that night. I don't know what comes next. Some days, finding hope is harder than others. For now, I am trying to heal, one day at a time. And I am holding on to the love and kindness of so many people who have reminded me that I am not alone," she said.

The failed lethal injection left her arms burned and blistered, according to her lawyers. For the first few days of her hospitalization, Pike was unconscious and on a ventilator. Medical and lethal injection experts have focused on the possibility that a problem with the IV line caused the drug to pool in her tissue rather than entering her bloodstream.

Pike's attorneys have urged the governor to reduce her sentence to life imprisonment. Lee told reporters this week that, "I suspect her sentence will be the same as before unless determined otherwise by the courts."

Friday's statement was dictated to Pike's legal team from the infirmary at the prison where she is housed. Pike was hospitalized in the immediate aftermath of the failed execution and then moved back to prison at the Debra K. Johnson Rehabilitation Center.