Christa Pike says she has lived with unrelenting pain since she survived Tennessee’s attempt to execute her last month, but she also says the support she has received has helped carry her through.
Pike delivered her first public comments on the ordeal on Thursday through her attorneys.
The 50-year-old lived through two doses of lethal injection on 30 September, punishment ordered for the 1995 stabbing death of her classmate, Colleen Slemmer.
Pike was 18 when she and her boyfriend tortured and killed Ms Slemmer, a crime that made her one of the youngest women ever sentenced to death.
In her account, Pike said she entered the execution chamber expecting to die calmly — only to regain consciousness later, disoriented and by herself in a hospital bed.
“There hasn’t been a moment since that night when I haven’t been in pain. My body hurts. My arms hurt. My hands hurt. My throat hurts. I still struggle to speak. And the pain isn’t just physical. There is pain in my mind and in my soul,” Pike said.
She said she had never allowed herself to picture what might come after the date set for her death.
“I’m deeply hurt by the incompetence that has put so many people in this terrible position. I continue to think about my victim’s family and the terrible pain and loss they have endured,” Pike said.
Christa Pike said she had not thought about life after her execution date
Pike also expressed gratitude to the medical staff who treated her and to others who, she said, offered compassion in the wake of the failed execution.
“I don’t know why I survived that night. I don’t know what comes next.
“Some days, finding hope is harder than others. For now, I am trying to heal, one day at a time.
“And I am holding on to the love and kindness of so many people who have reminded me that I am not alone,” she said.
Her attorneys are pressing Tennessee governor Bill Lee to commute her sentence to life in prison.
Mr Lee told reporters this week: “I suspect her sentence will be the same as before unless determined otherwise by the courts.”
He also called for an investigation into the events surrounding the botched execution and delayed the state’s only other lethal injection planned for this year.
According to her legal team, Pike dictated Thursday’s statement from the infirmary at the prison where she is being held.
After the execution attempt, Pike was taken to hospital and later returned to custody at the Debra K Johnson Rehabilitation Centre.
