Inmate Christa Pike describes ongoing pain after botched lethal injection

Christa Pike, a 50-year-old death-row inmate in Tennessee, issued her first public statement since surviving a failed execution attempt in September. > "There hasn't been a moment since that night when I haven't been in pain," she said, adding that her body, throat and mind continue to hurt. Pike was discharged from hospital after two doses of pentobarbital left her in critical condition, and she has been returned to the prison where she has served nearly three decades for the 1995 murder of Colleen Slemmer.

Pike, who was 18 at the time of the crime, said she is recovering but that "healing is not the same as being okay." Her lawyers had previously reported complications including pneumonia, swelling in her arms and difficulty swallowing.

Tennessee Governor Bill Lee halted all executions for the remainder of the year and ordered an independent review of the incident. When asked about a possible second execution attempt, Lee said the sentence would remain unchanged unless a court decides otherwise.

Bethany Mann, a friend of Pike and founder of Child Arise Tennessee, said she has been in direct contact with Pike and chose to respect her privacy. She expressed concern that the governor has not publicly reconsidered the death penalty itself, noting that Pike's case is not an isolated tragedy.

The Tennessee Department of Correction has not provided an explanation for the failed execution, though it defended the method used. May Martinez, the mother of the murder victim, called the botched execution a "mess" and said the state owes her an apology. The attempted execution follows a previous incident in May when an execution was postponed after staff could not locate a vein for a lethal injection.