Christa Pike describes 'pain in my mind and in my soul' in first statement after failed execution
Pike survived two doses of pentobarbital during her attempted execution on 30 September. She was sentenced to death for torturing and killing her classmate Colleen Slemmer in 1995, when she was 18.
Published on 30 October 2026 - 15:04 GMT+1
Christa Pike said she has been in constant pain since surviving a lethal injection in Tennessee last month, but remains grateful for the love and support she has received.
“There hasn’t been a moment since that night when I haven’t been in pain. My body hurts. My arms hurt. My hands hurt. My throat hurts. I still struggle to speak. And the pain isn’t just physical. There is pain in my mind and in my soul,” Pike said in her first public statement, released through her attorneys on Friday.
Pike dictated the statement to her legal team from the infirmary at the Debra K. Johnson Rehabilitation Center, where she is being held.
Pike said she entered the execution chamber prepared to die peacefully, only to wake up alone and confused in a hospital bed. The 50-year-old added that she had never imagined living beyond her scheduled execution date.
“I don’t know why I survived that night. I don’t know what comes next. Some days, finding hope is harder than others. For now, I am trying to heal, one day at a time. And I am holding on to the love and kindness of so many people who have reminded me that I am not alone,” she said.
Pike also criticised the handling of her execution attempt, while expressing sympathy for her victim’s family.
"I’m deeply hurt by the incompetence that has put so many people in this terrible position. I continue to think about my victim’s family and the terrible pain and loss they have endured,” Pike said.
Pike’s lawyers have called on Tennessee Governor Bill Lee to commute her death sentence to life imprisonment.
However, Lee told reporters this week that he expected her sentence to remain unchanged unless the courts ruled otherwise.
“I suspect her sentence will be the same as before unless determined otherwise by the courts.”
The governor has ordered an investigation into the failed execution and postponed the state's other lethal injection scheduled for this year.
She was initially hospitalised following the failed execution before being transferred back to prison.
