Christa Pike has finally awoken after her botched execution in Nashville, Tennessee, on September 30, 2026. The convicted murderer was the youngest woman to be sentenced to death in 1996 for the murder of Colleen Slemmer and the first woman in 200 years to be executed in the state of Tennessee.

Christa Pike Survives an Execution

Pike woke up asking, “Where am I?” as she lay in the hospital suffering from a blood clot in her arm, pneumonia, and unable to eat, according to her attorney. She was set to make history as a convicted criminal, and she still has, but in a different way. She is the first prisoner to survive a lethal injection in the United States.

Pike’s attorney, Randy Spivey, said that she asked him, “Where am I and who are you?” before inquiring about her victim’s family.

Slaying of Colleen Slemmer

In January 1995, Pike tortured and murdered 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer with her boyfriend in a jealous rage. The brutality of the crime left the jury speechless and disturbed by her ability to keep a souvenir from the killing: a piece of the victim’s skull. She was only 18 years old herself at the time and was sentenced to death on March 30, 1996. 

The day finally came for her to be executed. She declined her last meal and requested a team of females to lethally inject her, or if that request could not be fulfilled, she wanted to be hanged. The state of Tennessee probably wishes they had referred to her other method of execution after the botched attempt. 

Failed Execution Attempt

Pike was rushed to the hospital after she received two doses of pentobarbital, the lethal drug used in executions, at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution. She was transferred unconscious and in critical condition, but she finally pulled through. “Christa has a long road to recovery,” Spivey said. 

“She has a blood clot in one of her arms; she has pneumonia. She is not able to swallow yet, so she has not eaten.” Spivey added that she experienced “extraordinary” swelling in her hands, saying they “looked like if you were to blow up a surgical glove.”

Spivey revealed during a news conference on Monday night that they were informed Pike was brain dead and would be removed from life support. “But on Tuesday, to the shock of everyone, including me, including her team and including the medical team, Christa woke up and began talking,” he said.

“I do not have an explanation for what happened between Monday night and Tuesday morning.”

An anesthesiologist advised Pike’s attorneys on the situation and said she “has some memories of being in the hospital but no memory, I believe, of the execution attempt.” Pike could recall her name and communicate in a “basic way,” and also believed it was still September, Dr. Joel Zivot added.

Pike’s attorneys wrote in a filing that “apparently at no point did any member of the execution team realize that the IV lines were not correctly placed or that the veins had blown.”

Motion to Preserve Evidence

Pike’s legal team argued an emergency motion requiring the Tennessee Department of Correction to preserve all materials from the execution. Judge I’Ashea Myles granted the motion, commenting, “This case is unique, to say the least.”

The judge agreed with Pike’s defense and ordered that anything in the death chamber “needs to be preserved and maintained,” along with surveillance footage, handwritten notes, witness accounts, and encrypted communications.

When the judge asked the Tennessee Assistant Attorney General Will Ayers if there was a plan for another execution of Pike, he said, “I can’t answer that question.” Another attorney as part of Pike’s legal team, Luke Ihnen, also weighed in at the hearing, saying, “The state has made no promises that Ms. Pike will not be subject to future execution.”

The evidence preservation is solely for future instances should the defense challenge her execution. The evidence would be “relevant for any future challenge she makes.”

Executions Paused

Tennessee Governor Bill Lee, who denied Pike clemency just before she was scheduled to be executed, has halted all remaining executions for this year and ordered an independent review to be conducted to determine what happened.

Pike’s legal team has asked the governor to commute her sentence once again, but this time saying she has suffered enough. Christa Pike “endured punishment greater than any other person in the history of the American death penalty,” they said.