Christa Pike has returned to the Deborah K. Johnson Rehabilitation Center in Tennessee after being discharged from a local hospital.
Her transfer followed treatment for a failed lethal injection on September 30, according to her legal team.
Attorneys said on October 10 that Pike continues to receive medical care in prison as concerns remain about potential long-term cognitive and psychological damage.
In a statement, attorneys Stephen Ferrell and Luke Ihnen of Federal Defender Services of Eastern Tennessee, along with Randy Spivey and Kelly Gleason of the Tennessee Office of the Post Conviction Defender, confirmed her transfer and said they would monitor her recovery.
Pike was discharged from a local hospital and is now at the Debra K. Johnson Rehabilitation Center, where she has been housed for more than 30 years.
She is grateful to the first responders and her medical team for their care in these extraordinary circumstances.
She is continuing to receive medical care at the prison, and her attorneys said they will continue to track her recovery.
Recovery and Medical Concerns
The transfer followed more than a week of hospitalization after Pike survived two administrations of pentobarbital during her scheduled execution.
She was initially unconscious and required a ventilator before regaining consciousness on October 6, according to her legal team.
Her attorneys reported on October 8 that she had regained the ability to walk.
However, they remain concerned about her cognitive condition and possible lasting psychological effects.
Stephen Ferrell told ABC News on Thursday that they are not sure exactly of the long-term effects, but she is clearly cognitively not quite back to normal and may have a long ways to go.
According to court filings cited by ABC News, Pike appeared to experience significant distress during the execution attempt.
Her attorneys alleged that she could be heard crying, whimpering, and breathing loudly while receiving the injections.
The legal motion also described Pike saying that her arm feels like it is about to burst open.
According to the filing, medical personnel used at least seven needles to establish intravenous access, and one needle was reportedly bent at a 90-degree angle when removed.
The filing described pentobarbital as caustic and highly alkaline and said it burns upon contact.
Her attorneys further alleged that both arms were swollen, burned, and blistered when she arrived at a hospital in the Nashville area.
Pike's attorneys described her recovery as medically unprecedented and warned of a long road to recovery.
The Death Penalty Information Center said she was the first reported person to survive a lethal injection after the execution drugs had been administered.
Pike was sentenced to death for the 1995 murder of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer in Knoxville.
Before the execution attempt, her attorneys challenged the state's lethal injection procedures, arguing that the drugs could cause severe pain and suffering.
Following the incident, Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee ordered an independent review of the execution process and temporarily halted scheduled executions.
His office appointed former U. S.
Attorney Ed Stanton to examine whether the Department of Correction followed established protocols and whether further safeguards were necessary.
The governor's office said the review will seek to determine whether the protocol was followed and consider whether additional recommendations are necessary to ensure the state's protocol continues to be lawful and effective.
The state's next scheduled execution, involving Gary Wayne Sutton, had been set for December 3.
The Tennessee Department of Correction maintained that it had followed the proper procedures during Pike's execution attempt, while Commissioner Frank Strada announced his resignation the previous week.
Pike's attorneys have also asked Gov. Lee to commute her death sentence to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.
A judge separately ordered the state to preserve physical, written, and electronic evidence connected to the failed execution.
