Christa Pike ‘conscious and speaking’ after failed execution, Tennessee court holds hearing

Colleen Slemmer, the victim, was 19 years old in 1995 when Christa Pike and two others lured her out to a park, tortured and killed her. (Reuters)

Christa Pike, a condemned woman on Tennessee’s death row, has made a “medically unprecedented” recovery nearly a week after the state failed two attempts to lethally inject her, her attorneys said in a statement Tuesday evening.

“Against all odds, Christa Pike is conscious, speaking, and continues to receive critical medical care,” attorneys Randy Spivey, Kelly Gleason, Stephen Ferrell and Luke Ihnen announced after she regained consciousness. “Despite the severe damage she endured to her arms, she is still handcuffed and shackled to the bed.”

They said they expect a lengthy recovery.

The Davidson County Chancery Court is holding a hearing on the matter at 11 a.m. CT Wednesday, and her attorneys are expected to give a news briefing afterward.

Pike was one of three people involved in the 1995 torture and murder of Colleen Slemmer, a 19-year-old student at Knoxville’s Job Corps Center, a vocational school where she was studying computers.

Pike, her then-boyfriend Tadaryl Shipp, and a friend named Shadolla Peterson lured Slemmer to a park and attacked her with knives and rocks. She was tortured for an hour, slashed repeatedly, and then they crushed her head and carved pentagrams into her flesh.

Shipp, who was 17 at the time, was not eligible for the death penalty and was sentenced to life in prison. His next parole hearing is scheduled for October 2031.

Peterson took a plea deal and testified against the other two.