Tennessee death penalty survivor regains consciousness

Survivor after an unsuccessful execution attempt in the US state of Tennessee Christa Pike regained consciousness, reports PBS News, citing her lawyers.

According to the defense, the woman is conscious and can talk. At the same time, her hands were seriously injured, and she herself remains handcuffed to the bed.

“Her recovery is medically unprecedented. The outlook remains unclear, but at a minimum we expect a long recovery period, the statement said.

Pike's death sentence was attempted on September 30, she was found guilty of murdering a fellow student in 1995. Shortly before the procedure, the appeals court suspended the execution, but the US Supreme Court overturned this decision.

Pike was given two lethal doses of pentobarbital, but she survived and was taken to hospital. According to witnesses, after the first injection, the woman remained conscious and asked if her hand “should feel this way,” and after the second dose, witnesses heard her snoring until the microphone was turned off.

On October 3, Pike's lawyers reported that Krista remains unconscious in a critical condition and is connected to a ventilator. Two of her hands after the attempted execution were "swollen, burned and covered with blisters.".

The court filing says the drug allegedly got into tissues under the skin.

Pike and her boyfriend were convicted in 1995 for the murder of their classmate, 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer. After the murder, the couple carved a pentagram on Slemmer's body and left other satanic elements at the crime scene (the International Satanism Movement is recognized as an extremist organization in Russia and banned).

If executed, she would be the first woman to be executed in Tennessee in more than 200 years.