Christa Pike "regains consciousness and speaks", after surviving two execution attempts

Lawyers say Christa Pike, the US death row inmate, is "conscious and able to speak" after surviving two failed attempts at execution in Tennessee last week.

Lawyers for Pike, 50, added in a statement issued Tuesday that she continues to receive critical medical care while remaining "cuffed and shackled to the bed" in the hospital.

An anesthetist advising her medical team told the BBC that Pike was able to communicate to a "limited degree" but did not appear to remember the execution attempt.

Pike - who was sentenced to death after killing Colleen Slimer, with the help of her then-boyfriend in 1995 - had survived two attempts at lethal injection on September 30 in Tennessee.

Experts and her legal team say her apparent recovery is unprecedented.

Pike is believed to be the only person to have survived a lethal injection. Slimer's mother, who demanded Pike's execution, described the execution attempt immediately after it occurred as "chaos."

After it became clear that Pike would not die, she was taken to the hospital, where she remained unconscious for days while medical staff worked to rid her body of the chemical that had been injected with her.

Her lawyers said in their statement issued Tuesday that the outlook for her health remains unclear, but added: “We expect at least a long recovery period.”

In additional statements to the BBC, the anesthesiologist advising her medical team said that Pike no longer needed a ventilator.

“She has some memories of being in the hospital, but I don’t think she remembers anything about the execution attempt,” Dr. Joel Zivot said, referring to the limited communication that took place with her.

Zivot added that Pike was able to remember her name, and also guessed the date incorrectly, thinking it was still September.

In a previous interview, Zivot said the odds of recovery after lethal injection are low. He added, "Most people who receive a lethal injection die from it."

He pointed out that there are many unknowns, including the amount of the drug "pentobarbital" that the prison authorities used and that reached her body.

“I cannot, in any way, say at this stage that all major risks have been ruled out,” he said.

Deborah Deno, a criminologist and law professor at Fordham Law School, said she was "absolutely amazed" that Pike became conscious and able to speak.

Dino added to the BBC that there were seven other cases in which prisoners survived execution, but the executioners in those cases were unable to inject any substances into the prisoners' veins.

“Baek is the only person who has had a toxin of some kind injected into his body,” she said.

She added: "They did everything they should have done as part of the execution, but it simply didn't work. This had never happened before."

Speaking on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, a local journalist who witnessed the attempted execution said he also knew of "no precedent matching this case".

Steven Hill, a journalist for the Nashville Banner, said the case raises many questions, including: “How would it feel for the victim’s family to be told for 30 years that we will get justice for you, and that justice for us is the execution of Christa Pike?”

Authorities have not yet made clear whether they will seek to execute Pike again. She also did not provide an explanation for what went wrong after she was injected twice with the chemical pentobarbital.

Dr. Zivot suggested that the pentobarbital likely spread to the tissues under Pike's skin, rather than entering the bloodstream in sufficient quantity to kill her.

Pike's lawyers had previously warned that her medical history and physical makeup, including thrombocytosis (a condition associated with blood clotting) and small veins, could hinder the execution and cause her pain.

During the investigation into the incident, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee decided to suspend all executions until the end of the year, and the head of the state's prison service announced his intention to resign from his position.

Pike was 18 when she and her then-boyfriend, Tadaryl Shipp, beat, tortured and killed Slimer, 19, after they met her at a job camp for troubled teens.

Shipp was 17 years old at the time, which spared him the death penalty for his role in the crime, because he had not yet reached the legal age of majority at that time. He is still serving his prison sentence.

Pike's attorneys are scheduled to appear in court in Nashville on Wednesday. They also plan to hold a press conference outside the court.