Christa Pike Returns to Prison After Failed Execution

Christa Pike has been discharged from a Tennessee hospital and returned to prison for continuing medical care, her lawyers said Saturday, 10 days after a lethal injection attempt failed to kill her. Pike, 50, was taken to hospital after receiving two injections of pentobarbital at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution on September 30. Witnesses reported that she remained alive after the injections and was transferred for treatment. Her attorneys said she is now at the Debra K. Johnson Rehabilitation Center, where she has been held for more than 30 years. The attorneys announced her discharge in a joint statement, saying she was grateful to first responders and medical staff and would continue receiving care at the prison. They did not provide a detailed account of her current condition. Earlier in the week, her lawyers said she had regained consciousness and was walking, but remained confused and faced a long recovery. A report citing her legal team described continuing concentration and memory problems; no current medical assessment was reported. The failed execution has prompted legal and administrative action in Tennessee.