Christa Pike’s attorneys are asking a federal court to end what they describe as her continued, improper isolation following a failed execution in Tennessee. An emergency motion filed October 30 argues that prison officials are violating a 2024 settlement agreement that ended Pike’s 28 years in solitary confinement.
Pike survived two injections of pentobarbital on September 30, the day she was scheduled to be executed. Her attorney Angela L. Bergman said in the filing that Pike spent several days on a ventilator and more than a week in a hospital’s medical intensive care unit. After her discharge on October 9, Pike remained apart from other inmates at the Debra K. Johnson Rehabilitation Center, according to the motion.
The filing says Pike has been denied opportunities to work, eat and socialize with other women at the facility. Her attorneys also say officials rejected her request to share housing with women receiving temporary medical care.
In a declaration dated October 29, Pike described injuries including severe burns and nerve damage, as well as difficulty sleeping and psychological trauma. She said she has been allowed contact only with limited staff, medical personnel, her spiritual adviser and her legal team. Pike also reported having to clean an insect-infested shower herself, which she said could put her at risk of infection and further injury.
The Tennessee Department of Correction declined to comment, citing its policy against discussing pending litigation. The state has until November 4 to respond to the emergency motion.
The motion was filed the same day Pike issued her first public statement through her legal team since the execution attempt. She said she had been prepared to die on September 30 and had been in pain ever since. Pike was sentenced to death after being convicted of killing her 19-year-old classmate, Colleen Slemmer, in 1995.
Sources: Us Weekly.