US death row inmate Christa Pike has been discharged from hospital and returned to the prison where she has spent the past 30 years, her lawyers said in a statement on Saturday. The 50-year-old is continuing to receive medical care at the prison.
Pike survived two lethal injections of the drug pentobarbital on 30 September, which left her in critical condition. Earlier this week, she regained consciousness and began speaking, a development that stunned experts, medical staff and her lawyers.
Pike’s recovery after failed lethal injection
Pike’s case is now in uncharted territory. She is believed to be the only person to have survived an execution attempt by lethal injection.
Pike’s teenage crime and victim Slemmer
Pike was 18 when she and her then-boyfriend, Tadaryl Shipp, beat, tortured and killed 19-year-old Slemmer. The pair had met Slemmer at a job training camp for low-income young people.
