Christa Pike, 50, is out of hospital and back at the Deborah K. Johnson Rehabilitation Center in Tennessee, her lawyers said on Saturday. She came through the state’s lethal injection attempt alive.
Officials gave her two pentobarbital doses during the attempt on September 30, and she had been hospitalised from that date. Pike was sentenced to death over the 1995 beating and stabbing of her classmate, Colleen Slemmer.
Pike’s medical care continues in custody
Her lawyers said she is still receiving treatment in prison and that they will track her recovery closely. They also thanked the first responders and medical staff who cared for her.
Hasan livestream plan sparks outcry
The failed attempt has renewed attention on capital punishment, which is also under fire over a military plan to livestream the execution of Nidal Malik Hasan. A former army psychiatrist, Hasan was convicted of killing 13 people at Fort Hood, Texas, in 2009, and his execution is scheduled for December 3.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced the livestream on Thursday, and the idea drew criticism even from some supporters of capital punishment. Vice President JD Vance said on Friday he was unsure it would go ahead and that he would not watch. Republican Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina called the proposal “beyond disgusting” in a social media post.
Archbishop Paul S Coakley, president of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, also condemned the plan.
Tennessee and national views on the death penalty
In Tennessee, Pike’s failed execution has not led Republican lawmakers to revisit capital punishment. Some have instead floated other methods, such as the electric chair and firing squads.
Across the country, support for the death penalty has dropped from its 1990s high. Ten states have abolished it since Pike was sentenced in 1996, yet executions continue. So far this year, 30 people have been executed in the US, with eight more scheduled, mostly in Texas and Florida.
A Pew Research Center poll in July found that about two-thirds of American adults considered the death penalty morally justified for murder. Still, around six in 10 said it does not deter crime, and about seven in 10 said there is some risk an innocent person could be executed.
