Death row inmate Christa Pike is speaking out one month after surviving Tennessee's attempt to execute her, saying she remains in constant pain and had never contemplated a life beyond the night she expected to die.
asserted
she → speak → night
Pike, 50, described her condition in a statement dictated to her legal team and released Friday.
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Pike → describe → team
"One month ago on September 30, I walked into the execution chamber at Riverbend men’s prison prepared to die," Pike said.
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Pike → walk → prison
"I had made my peace."
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I → make → peace
Pike said she thanked those who had supported her through the years and told those who were there to witness her execution that she was "leaving them in loving kindness."
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she → say → kindness
"Several days later I woke up alone in a hospital confused and in pain," Pike said.
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Pike → wake → pain
My body hurts.
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body → hurt → ?
My arms hurt.
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arms → hurt → ?
My hands hurt.
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hands → hurt → ?
My throat hurts.
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throat → hurt → ?
I still struggle to speak.
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I → struggle → ?
Pike said she had never considered what her life would look like if she survived the execution.
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she → say → execution
"I had not contemplated life beyond that night, and I’m deeply hurt by the incompetence that has put so many people in this terrible position," she said.
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she → contemplate → position
"I continue to think about my victim’s family and the terrible pain and loss they have endured."
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they → continue → family
Pike was sentenced to death for the 1995 murder of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer, a fellow participant in a federal Job Corps program in Knoxville.
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Pike → sentence → Knoxville
Her statement comes two days after Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee said Pike remains incarcerated under state law and signaled that her death sentence is unlikely to change.
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sentence → come → law
Pike's attorneys have called on Lee to commute her death sentence to life without parole after the failed execution.
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attorneys → call → execution
Pike said Friday that she is recovering but remains in the infirmary at the Debra K. Johnson Rehabilitation Center, where she has been largely isolated from other people.
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she → say → people
"I am recovering, and I know that I am getting stronger," Pike said.
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Pike → recover → ?
"Since that night, I have been largely isolated in the prison’s medical ward, away from other people and the human connections that mean so much to me," she continued.
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she → isolate → me
"That isolation brings its own kind of pain.
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isolation → bring → pain
I spent 28 years in solitary confinement and much of what I am experiencing today is a repeat of that condition."
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I → spend → condition
Pike survived Tennessee's attempt to execute her by lethal injection on Sept. 30 after receiving two doses of pentobarbital and was rushed to a hospital.
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Pike → survive → hospital
She remained unconscious for days, and her attorneys at one point believed she was brain dead and expected her to be taken off life support.
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her → remain → support
Pike later regained consciousness and was discharged from the hospital before being returned to prison.
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Pike → regain → prison
Her attorneys subsequently said she was able to walk and speak in full sentences.
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she → say → sentences
Pike's survival renewed a decades-long fight over her death sentence and whether Tennessee could attempt to execute her again.
uncertain
Tennessee → renew → her
She was 18 when she, her 17-year-old boyfriend, Tadaryl Shipp, and 19-year-old Shadolla Peterson were charged in Slemmer's killing.
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she → charge → killing
All four were participating in Job Corps at the time.
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four → participate → time
The three took Slemmer to a secluded area on the University of Tennessee's Knoxville campus, where her throat was cut multiple times, she was struck in the head with a large piece of asphalt and a pentagram was carved into her chest.
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pentagram → take → chest
Pike later confessed to her role in the killing.
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Pike → confess → killing
She was convicted and sentenced to death in 1996, and the Tennessee Supreme Court later affirmed her convictions and
sentence.
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Court → convict → sentence
Following the failed execution, Lee halted Tennessee's remaining executions for the year and ordered an independent review of what went wrong.
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what → follow → review
Pike said Friday that she is still trying to understand why she survived.
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she → say → ?
"I don't know why I survived that night.
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I → know → ?
I don't know what comes next," she said.
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she → know → ?
"Some days, finding hope is harder than others.
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finding → find → others
For now, I am trying to heal, one day at a time.
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I → try → time
And I am holding on to the love and kindness of so many people who have reminded me that I am not alone."
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I → hold → me
The Aporia
