A United States death row inmate who survived a botched lethal injection in Tennessee has been discharged from hospital and returned to prison, her lawyers have said.
Christa Pike, 50, was transferred on Saturday to the Debra K. Johnson Rehabilitation Centre, the women’s prison where she had been held for 30 years, according to the Associated Press.
“She is grateful to the first responders and her medical team for their care in these extraordinary circumstances. She is continuing to receive medical care at the prison, and we will continue to track her recovery,” her attorneys said in a statement.
Pike had been hospitalised since September 30, when Tennessee officials attempted to execute her by lethal injection for the 1995 murder of her classmate, Colleen Slemmer, who was beaten and stabbed to death.
She survived two doses of pentobarbital, the drug used in the execution. Her condition deteriorated to the point that she was placed on a ventilator, prompting fears among her lawyers that she might not survive.
She later regained consciousness and began speaking and walking with assistance.
The Death Penalty Information Centre said Pike was the first known person to survive after receiving lethal injection drugs during an execution attempt.
Tennessee authorities have yet to explain what went wrong. Medical and lethal injection experts have examined whether improperly placed intravenous lines prevented the drugs from entering Pike’s bloodstream as intended.
In a court filing, her lawyers alleged that “apparently, at no point did any member of the execution team realise that the IV lines were not correctly placed.”
The failed execution has triggered renewed scrutiny of Tennessee’s lethal injection procedures.
Governor Bill Lee postponed the state’s only other scheduled execution for the year and ordered a review of the incident. The state’s prison chief also resigned in the aftermath.
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