Christa Pike is walking for first time after botched execution, lawyer says
‘She’s back, she’s alive, we’re happy about that, but she’s not mentally fully recovered,’ says attorney Stephen Farrell
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Christa Pike, the Tennessee death row prisoner who survived a botched execution last week, is now up and walking as her surprise recovery continues, according to her lawyer.
Pike, 50, was sentenced to die for the “Satanic” murder of Knoxville classmate Colleen Slemmer in January 1995, only to be raced to a hospital after surviving a double dose of the deadly drug pentobarbital at Riverbend maximum security prison in Nashville on September 30.
Her legal team announced Tuesday she had woken up and begun talking and revealed Wednesday she had no memory of her ordeal and was “angry and confused” about what had happened to her.
Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today program Thursday morning, attorney Stephen Farrell, said his client was doing “fairly well” but still has a long road ahead of her, with much still to be determined.
“What’s been described to me is that there’s quite a bit going on, that her arms are very injured, she’s unable to use them very much,” he said.
“She is up and walking for the first time today, just around the room, not very far. She’s back, she’s alive, we’re happy about that, but she’s not mentally fully recovered.
“She is fairly with it, but she’s also somewhat foggy and can lose her train of thought really easily and forgets where she’s going.”
More follows on this developing story…