Tennessee death row inmate awake, speaking after failed execution; judge orders execution evidence preserved
Caroline MolloyA judge ordered Tennessee officials Oct. 7 to preserve all evidence related to the state’s failed execution attempt on death row inmate Christa Pike, who regained consciousness one day earlier and is speaking after the Sept. 30 lethal injection attempt left her critically injured.
Davidson County Chancery Court Judge I’Ashea Myles directed officials to preserve physical evidence and records, including medical supplies, photographs, recordings, emails, text messages, and medical documentation.
“Anything that was in the room needs to be preserved; that includes waste,” Myles said during the hearing, according to Nashville NBC affiliate WSMV.
Assistant Attorney General John Ayers also told the court that no execution order is currently pending for Pike. Whether the state could obtain another execution order is a matter for the Tennessee Supreme Court, he added.
Pike regained consciousness Oct. 6, six days after receiving two doses of pentobarbital administered during the execution attempt at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution. She was rushed to a hospital unconscious and placed on a ventilator, as Zeale News previously reported.
