Death row inmate makes progress after surviving two injections during a failed lethal injection
Pike was sentenced to death for the 1995 murder of Slemmer, a 19-year-old schoolmate whom she and her then-boyfriend, Tadaryl Shipp, beat, tortured and killed after meeting her at a job training camp for low-income young people.
Christa Pike, the Tennessee death row inmate who survived a botched lethal injection attempt last week, has made a “profound” recovery and can now walk with assistance and eat, her lawyers said on Thursday.
Despite the ordeal, Pike continued to express concern for others, particularly the family of her victim, Colleen Slemmer, they said. Her legal team added that the full emotional and psychological impact of the incident remained unclear and that it was uncertain how long her recovery would take.
Pike was 18 at the time of the killing, while Shipp was 17. Because he was not legally an adult when the crime was committed and remains in prison, he was spared the death penalty.