Christa Pike, a 50-year-old death row inmate in Tennessee, survived a botched execution attempt and continues to suffer from severe pain a month later. Her lawyers have requested a reduction in her death sentence, but the state governor has not changed his stance.
Pike, who was convicted of murdering her classmate Colleen Slemmer in 1995, described her experience as 'confused and in pain' after the failed execution. She said she had expected to die but instead woke up in a hospital bed, still in critical condition.
The Tennessee Department of Correction has not yet explained why the execution did not go as planned, though it has defended the method used. Governor Bill Lee has ordered an investigation and paused all executions for the remainder of the year.
Pike's lawyers have spent decades appealing her case, and both the U.S. Supreme Court and Lee declined to block the execution. Pike has since been sent back to prison, where she has spent the last 30 years.