Christa Pike Walking After Botched Execution

Christa Pike is awake and walking short distances in her hospital room after Tennessee’s Sept. 30 execution attempt failed. She received two doses of pentobarbital and survived, then was taken to a hospital in critical condition. Pike, now 50, was sentenced to death for the 1995 killing of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer, a classmate at a job-training program. Her lawyer says Pike remains mentally foggy and faces an uncertain recovery. Her lawyers say her arms were badly injured and swollen, with pneumonia and a blood clot among her medical problems. A judge ordered Tennessee to preserve execution evidence. Gov. Bill Lee paused executions and ordered an outside investigation.