Christa Pike, a Tennessee inmate who was unconscious after surviving two lethal injections, has regained consciousness and is now speaking, her lawyers said Tuesday.
“Against all odds, Christa Pike is conscious, speaking, and continues to receive critical medical care,” Ms Pike’s lawyers said in a statement.
“Despite the severe damage she endured to her arms, she is still handcuffed and shackled to the bed. Her recovery is medically unprecedented.”
“Christa is a survivor and will take recovery one day at a time,” the lawyers said, while thanking the medical team “who treated Christa like a human and have provided exceptional care to her”.
Ms Pike, 50, was hospitalised September 30 after it became clear that the two doses of pentobarbital, a drug used for executions, had failed to kill her. Witnesses said she was breathing and even snored at some point.
She was wheeled to a Nashville hospital for treatment, where the medical staff worked to remove the drug from her system.
Her lawyers have asked Governor Bill Lee to halt the execution and allow her to spend the rest of her life in prison.
Ms Pike tortured and murdered Colleen Slemmer, 19, in 1995 after taking her to the woods. She bragged with Ms Slemmer’s skull to at least one person. She was convicted and sentenced to death.
Ms Pike’s then-boyfriend, Tadaryl Shipp, was spared the death penalty because he was 17 at the time. But Ms Pike remained on death row for three decades until September 30, when her scheduled execution went awry.
Frank Strada, commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Correction, has taken responsibility and said he would resign at the end of October.