Attorneys describe Christa Pike’s emotional reaction after waking up

NASHVILLE, Tenn. ( WKRN ) — Christa Pike’s defense attorneys on Wednesday described their client’s emotional state after discovering she was still alive following a botched execution attempt .

On Monday night, Pike’s legal team was told she was braindead, and life support would be removed the next day. However, to their surprise, their client woke up on Tuesday and began speaking.

According to one of her attorneys, the first thing the inmate said when she woke up was, “Where am I, and who are you?” He added there is still a lot of cognitive confusion, but Pike has allegedly asked about several people, including the victim’s family.

“I think she is angry and confused about everything right now,” said defense lawyer Randy Spivey during a press conference. “She is very aware that the state tried to execute her, and, again, I don’t want to say what she remembers and what she doesn’t remember at this point because I think that is evolving.”

Her legal team added that she likely has pneumonia and is not able to swallow, so she has not eaten. They also noted that both of the inmate’s arms and hands are “tremendously swollen.” Spivey described them as looking like a “blown up surgical glove.”

Pike’s lawyers emphasized they have not asked the state to turn over any evidence but rather preserve it, so the public can really learn what happened on Sept. 30, Spivey said.

“Today’s hearing was just the first step of many to preserve and enforce Christa’s Constitutional rights after this unprecedented, botched execution,” the attorney added.

Pike is alive and speaking nearly a week after she was given two lethal injection doses during the failed execution attempt, her attorneys confirmed Tuesday.

Earlier this week, Pike remained incapacitated on a ventilator while medical staff worked to clear the drug from her system. However, by Tuesday, Oct. 6, Pike’s attorneys said she was conscious, speaking and receiving critical medical care.

Pike’s attorneys noted that she sustained “severe damage” to her arms and remains handcuffed and shackled to a hospital bed. Although her prognosis remains unclear, the legal team said, at minimum, they expect a “long recovery.”

“Christa is a survivor. She survived child sexual abuse; she survived rapes of multiple men; she survived a suicide attempt when she was 12, and she survived the state’s attempt to execute her,” Spivey said.

Court rules to preserve evidence from execution attempt

Before the press conference, a status hearing was also held in Nashville court on the preservation of evidence from Tennessee’s failed execution.

Pike’s attorneys were granted the expedited hearing Friday to discuss the preservation of relevant evidence after they filed an emergency motion. The beginning of the hearing focused on jurisdiction of the case, with Chancellor I’Ashea L. Myles deciding her court still has current jurisdiction.

Ultimately, Chancellor Myles determined her court will issue a new order to save every piece of potential evidence from the execution chamber that might need to be preserved and maintained. This includes pictures, remnants of drugs, anything in the witness room, handwritten notes, logs and witness accounts, in addition to all pertinent emails, texts and recordings.

“In light of the evolving situation, the court will grant its own order, granting the motion to preserve relevant evidence. As a primary order, we want all drugs, IV, syringes, tubing, anything that was in the actual room needs to be preserved and maintained. That would include waste,” explained Chancellor Myles.

“Anything pertaining to the actual drug that was used needs to be maintained and preserved, as well as any supplies that would have come from the manufacture administering those products.”

Pike’s attorneys stated that since her hospitalization, Pike has remained shackled to her bed. Medical staff has asked for her to not be restrained and those requests were denied.

The attorneys claim they were able to access Pike until Monday after a two-and-a-half hour wait at the hospital. They asked the judge to grant them similar access to what they had when she was in prison.

The state argued the Tennessee Department of Correction (TDOC) doesn’t intend to obstruct Pike’s attorneys’ access to her, and access is being facilitated: The judge ordered Pike’s attorneys to send requests to prison wardens to request a visit with Pike two hours prior. Wardens must then respond within those two hours.

Chancellor Myles is waiting to decide whether Pike can use a tablet she used in prison until she gets more information.

“The court will reserve ruling on the tablet for Ms. Pike while she is in a private hospital,” Myles said.

After the hearing, Pike’s attorneys held a press conference on her condition.

“We have to ask how much suffering is enough. We continue to ask Gov. Lee to commute Christa’s death sentence. After all we have seen and all we still do not know, it is unimaginable that the state would try to execute her again,” said Spivey

Pike was convicted of brutally killing 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer in Knoxville in 1995 when she was 18. She would have been the first woman put to death in Tennessee in more than 200 years.

This is the second time in 2026 that Tennessee has been unable to carry out an execution: In May, state officials called off the execution of Tony Carruthers after executioners failed to place an IV to administer the injection. He remains on death row after Lee granted a one-year reprieve.

Gov. Bill Lee (R) demanded a review of the state’s execution procedures and has indefinitely postponed Pike’s execution. He also delayed the remaining execution this year for Gary Wayne Sutton, who was scheduled to be put to death on Dec. 3, 2026.