Christa Pike awake and speaking after failed execution

Christa Pike, a 50-year-old death row inmate, is currently awake and speaking while receiving critical medical care under guard in a Nashville hospital, according to a statement released by her attorneys on Tuesday. Pike remains handcuffed to her hospital bed as medical staff continue to monitor her recovery.

Pike was originally sentenced to death following her conviction for the 1995 murder of Colleen Slemmer when Pike was just 18 years old. She and her then-boyfriend, Tadaryl Shipp, tortured and killed the 19-year-old victim whom they had met at a job training camp for troubled teens. After surviving two lethal injections last Wednesday, Pike was transferred to a Nashville hospital where she remained unconscious while medical personnel cleared the pentobarbital from her body.

Dr. Joel Zivot, an anaesthesiologist advising Pike's defence team, stated that her survival is highly unusual, noting she is the only person known to have survived a completed execution attempt in the United States. While there were seven previous instances where prisoners survived scheduled executions, executioners were unable to inject any substances into those inmates' veins, unlike Pike's case where toxins were actually administered.

"I was absolutely astonished that Pike is conscious and speaking."

Deborah Denno, criminologist and professor at Fordham Law School

Deborah Denno, a criminologist and professor at Fordham Law School, told the BBC that Pike is the unique individual for whom some kind of toxin has been injected and yet lived. Authorities have not yet explained what went wrong during the procedure, nor have they clarified whether they will attempt to execute Pike a second time.