US death row inmate Christa Pike conscious after failed execution, lawyers say

6 October 2026, 21: 55 BST.

Key points

• She was sentenced to death after her conviction for murdering Colleen Slemmer in 1995.
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• Pike, 50, continues to receive critical medical care while handcuffed in hospital, according to a statement from her attorneys on Tuesday.
• But Pike survived two lethal injections last week and was transferred to a hospital in Nashville, Tennessee, for treatment.
• US death row inmate Christa Pike is "conscious and speaking" after her failed execution attempt, her lawyers say.

But Pike survived two lethal injections last week and was transferred to a hospital in Nashville, Tennessee, for treatment. Her lawyers had remarked in the days afterwards that she was unconscious while medical staff cleared her body of the pentobarbitol injected during the failed execution attempt.

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