Christa Pike returns to prison after hospitalization following failed execution attempt

Shared facts · Agreed across sources

Christa Pike has been discharged from a hospital and returned to the Debra K. Johnson Rehabilitation Center in Tennessee, according to a statement from her attorneys. Pike had been hospitalized for several days after surviving two doses of the lethal drug pentobarbital during a September 30 execution attempt. A Davidson County judge has ordered prison officials to preserve all evidence connected to the failed execution.

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Single source · Not corroborated

Back at DKJ prison

Christa Pike's attorneys — Luke Ihnen, Randy Spivey, Stephen Ferrell, and Kelly Gleason — announced Saturday that Pike had been released from a local hospital and returned to the Debra K. Johnson Rehabilitation Center. "She is grateful to the first responders and her medical team for their care in these extraordinary circumstances," the attorneys said in a statement. They added that Pike is continuing to receive medical care at the prison and that they are monitoring her recovery.

2 doses pentobarbital

Execution: Sept. 30

Arm burning reported

Pike survived the September 30 execution attempt after receiving two doses of the barbiturate pentobarbital, which is the drug used in U.S. lethal injections. NPR reported that shortly after the first dose was administered, Pike said her arm was burning and asked whether it was supposed to feel that way, then said, "Please try up on my shoulder higher." Attorney Randy Spivey, who witnessed the attempt, previously told NPR that after a second dose Pike became unconscious but continued breathing and making choking sounds, and that it "went on for so long."

Evidence preserve order

Judge I'Ashea Myles of the Davidson County Chancery Court in Nashville ordered prison officials to preserve all evidence — including messages — connected to the failed execution, NPR reported.