Krista Pike is conscious and speaking after surviving two lethal injections

Krista Pike, a 50-year-old American on death row, is conscious and speaking after surviving two attempts at execution by lethal injection last Wednesday in Tennessee, her lawyers said. Pike remains under medical care in a hospital and is being restrained with handcuffs, according to her legal team.

The authorities took Pike to a hospital after the failed procedure, where she stayed unconscious while medical staff worked to clear the injected chemical from her body. Officials have not provided a public explanation for what went wrong during the injections, which involved the drug pentobarbital.

Her legal team described her progress as "medically unprecedented," and said the prognosis is uncertain while Pike continues a lengthy recovery.

Experts say survival is unique

Criminologist Deborah Deno expressed astonishment that Pike is awake and speaking. "There have been seven other cases in which inmates survived planned executions, but in those cases, the executioners failed to inject anything into the prisoners' veins. Pike is the only person into whom some kind of toxin was injected," Deno said.

It remains unclear whether Tennessee officials will attempt to carry out the death sentence again. Governor Bill Lee has suspended all executions in the state through the end of the year, and the head of the state corrections system has announced plans to resign.

Pike was convicted for the 1995 killing of Colin Slemer when she was 18. Prosecutors say she and her then-boyfriend, Tadaril Ship, beat, tortured and murdered Slemer; the killing drew national attention after Slemer was found with an inverted pentagram carved into his chest. Pike had told authorities she felt insulted and believed Slemer had tried to take her boyfriend; two witnesses at trial said Pike boasted about the killing and showed them part of Slemer's skull.

Photo: AP)