Christa Pike, the Tennessee death row inmate whose Sept. 30 execution failed, has released her first statement since the attempt, delivered through her legal team, according to WVLT.
What she said
The statement, dictated to her lawyers and shared by email, comes one month after the state tried and failed to execute her by lethal injection. "One month ago on September 30, I walked into the execution chamber at Riverbend men's prison prepared to die," it says. "I had made my peace."
WVLT reported that Tennessee Department of Correction staff gave Pike two doses of pentobarbital and that after the hours-long attempt she was taken to a nearby hospital before being returned to the department's custody. "Several days later I woke up alone in a hospital confused and in pain," she said. "I'm deeply hurt by the incompetence that has put so many people in this terrible position."
She said she has been in pain since, writing, "My body hurts. My arms hurt. My hands hurt. My throat hurts. I still struggle to speak." She thanked supporters around the world and the first responders and hospital staff who treated her, and said she continues to think about the family of her victim, Colleen Slemmer.
Where the case stands
Pike was convicted in 1996 in the 1995 killing of Slemmer, 19, in Knoxville. Her attorneys are still seeking to have her taken off death row. Gov. Bill Lee has said he expects her sentence to remain unchanged. Before the attempt, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals briefly stayed the execution, and the U.S. Supreme Court lifted the stay hours later.
Fallout for the state
TDOC's commissioner, Frank Strada, resigned in October, and lawmakers have urged Lee to make further changes at the department. The governor has since named an interim commissioner, and the attorney general's office has hired a former U.S. attorney to conduct an independent review.
Sources: WVLT, WBBJ-TV