Woman who survived Tennessee execution is awake and talking

Christa Pike, who survived after two lethal injections last week, has regained consciousness in a Nashville hospital, according to her attorneys. Pike, 50, was convicted in the brutal 1995 torture and murder of Colleen Slemmer, 19. Pike herself was 18 at the time of the murder.

Randy Spivey, one of Pike’s attorneys, says that he believed on Monday that she was braindead and that her life support was scheduled to be removed on Tuesday. But before that could happen, Spivey said, Pike woke up and spoke, “to the shock of everyone”. The legal team has described her as “angry and confused” about what happened to her. They also noted that she is suffering from other health complications, including pneumonia and a blood clot in one of her arms. Her attorneys also say that she no function in her arms, but she remains shackled to the hospital bed.

A judge granted a request from Pike’s attorneys ordering the state of Tennessee to preserve any evidence related to her execution attempt, including medical equipment and any recordings. Pike’s legal team say they may need this evidence to argue against any future attempts to execute her. They have asked Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee to commute her sentence from death to life in prison without parole.

Following last week’s botched execution, Lee paused all executions in Tennessee until the end of the year. He also ordered a third-party review to investigate what went wrong. Frank Strada has also stepped down as Commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Correction.

Other news of note:

Friends of Black Mississippi teen Nolan Wells, who died on Horn Island in July, are suing NFL hall-of-famer Terrell Owens for defamation after he tweeted: “ARREST THEM IMMEDIATELY!!”. Other lawsuits may be on the way.

California couple with 21 children (mostly born to surrogates) indicted in massive abuse case.