TN death row inmate Christa Pike describes constant pain in first statement since failed execution

Tennessee death row inmate Christa Pike released her first statement Friday since the state tried and failed to carry out her execution, stating that she is in "constant pain" since the lethal injection.

Pike was convicted of killing former classmate Colleen Slemmer in 1995 when she was just 18 years old. Court records note that Pike and Slemmer were students at the Job Corps Center in Knoxville when Pike tortured and killed Slemmer slowly, which was allegedly over comments the 19-year-old Slemmer had made about her relationship.

The inmate was given the death penalty, which authorities attempted to carry out earlier this month, but she survived two doses of the lethal injection pentobarbital. Pike's attorneys said she suffered from pneumonia and a blood clot, couldn't swallow, and was unable to move her arms or hands when she woke up from the botched execution. 

Pike told the public that she still cannot speak well and that she is “deeply hurt by the incompetence that has put so many people in this terrible position," according to the Associated Press.

“There hasn’t been a moment since that night when I haven’t been in pain," she said. "My body hurts. My arms hurt. My hands hurt. My throat hurts. I still struggle to speak. The pain isn’t just physical. There is pain in my mind and in my soul.”

Pike said she was prepared to die in peace, but instead woke up alone and confused in a hospital bed and is now “searching for meaning in what happened to me.”

“I don’t know why I survived that night. I don’t know what comes next,” she added.

Tennessee Republican Gov. Bill Lee said Thursday that Pike will likely face another attempt to carry out her death sentence, despite pleas from her attorneys to have her sentence commuted to life without parole.

Lee has also halted future execution attempts in light of the botched injections and has ordered a "comprehensive, third-party review to determine exactly what occurred."

Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.