US death row inmate Christa Pike conscious after failed execution, lawyers say

Christa Pike, 50, remains "conscious and speaking" after a failed execution attempt, her lawyers said on Tuesday. Pike was sentenced to death for the 1995 murder of Colleen Slemmer. She survived two lethal injections last week and was taken to a hospital in Nashville, Tennessee for treatment. Her attorneys said she was unconscious while medical staff cleared her system of the pentobarbital used in the botched execution. On Tuesday, her lawyers said her improvement is "medically unprecedented" and, although her prognosis remains unclear, "at a minimum, we expect a agelong recovery". They added that Pike is the only person known to have survived a completed execution effort in the United States. Authorities have not said whether they will try again to execute Pike, nor have they explained what went wrong. Tennessee Governor Bill Lee has suspended all executions for the rest of the year, and the head of the state prison system said he intends to resign. Pike was 18 when she and her then‑boyfriend, Tadaryl Shipp, beat, tortured and killed 19‑year‑old Slemmer, whom they had met at a job‑training camp for troubled teens. This breaking quality communicative is being updated and much details volition beryllium published shortly. Please refresh the leafage for the fullest version. You can get Breaking News on a smartphone or tablet via the BBC News App. You can also