Christa Pike - latest: Killer walking but 'very injured' after botched execution

Christa Pike - latest: Killer walking but 'very injured' after botched execution One of Christa Pike's lawyers Stephen Farrell says his killer client is walking again for the first time since botched attempts to execute her by lethal injection Murderer Christa Pike is walking again for the first time since botched attempts to execute her by lethal injections - but her lawyers say she is "very injured". Pike, who was sentenced to death after murdering Colleen Slemmer with her then-boyfriend in 1995, survived two lethal injections on Wednesday last week, audibly snoring before she was rushed to a nearby hospital. Pike's lawyers yesterday confirmed she is awake and speaking. It was revealed that a request from staff to release her from handcuffs in hospital had been denied. This morning, they said she had begun walking again but "just around the room, not very far". One of Pike's lawyers, Stephen Farrell, said: "What’s been described to me is that there’' quite a bit going on, that her arms are very injured, she’s unable to use them very much." The health update comes as the first execution in the US since the botched lethal injections took place overnight. Lawyers for Jamaal Howard, 46, who fatally shot a convenience store clerk Vickie Swartout in 2000, had asked a judge to stay his execution, citing the Pike case. "There is a similar risk," Howard's attorneys wrote, "that Texas's execution drugs are likewise degraded, as they are far past the original beyond-use dates that the pharmacopeia allows for drugs of this kind." Howard used his last words to ask his victim's family for forgiveness after the request was denied. He said: "I'm sorry for what happened. I wish you can learn to forgive me one of these days." Key Events Christa Pike 'walking around hospital room' but 'very injured' Christa Pike has started walking around her hospital room after regaining consciousness after surviving two lethal injections that left her fighting for her life. The death row inmate was given two doses of lethal injection on September 30 but survived before being rushed to hospital critically injured. One of Pike’s lawyers, Stephen Farrell, told Radio 4 that the murderer is now doing "fairly well" but is still battling mental and physical issues. "He said: "What’s been described to me is that there’s quite a bit going on, that her arms are very injured, she’s unable to use them very much. "She is up and walking for the first time today, just around the room, not very far." Read the full story here. Howard shot victim once in the chest and stole $114 and carton of cigarettes Jamaal Howard was 20 years old when he killed store clerk Vickie Swartout, 42, in 2000. He shot her once in the chest during a store robbery, with the murder captured on CCTV. Howard also took $114 and a carton of cigarettes from the store in the small, rural town of Silsbee, which is located about 100 miles northeast of Houston in Texas. He was convicted of capital murder and last night, 26 years after the killing, the death row inmate was executed. He was pronounced dead at 8.03pm local time on Wednesday (2am BST on Thursday) after receiving a fatal dose of pentobarbital at a state prison in Huntsville, Texas. A spokesperson for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice said Howard was "talkative" and "very engaged in the process" in the lead up to his execution. In his final statement, he apologised profusely to Ms Swartout's family members present at the execution, asking for their forgiveness. He also told his family he loved them, concluding with "enjoy life and peace to y'all". The seven Texas executions in 2026 Texas has carried out 7 executions in 2026 so far: - Charles Victor Thompson – Executed on January 28, 2026, for the 1998 capital murders of Glenda Dennise Hayslip and Darren Keith Cain in Tomball, Texas. - Cedric Allen Ricks – Executed on March 11, 2026, for the 2013 capital murders of his ex-girlfriend, Roxann Sanchez, and her 8-year-old son, Anthony Figueroa, in Bedford, Texas. - James Garfield Broadnax – Executed on April 30, 2026, for the 2008 murders of Matthew Butler and Stephen Swan during a robbery/studio shooting in Garland, Texas. - Edward Lee Busby Jr. – Executed on May 14, 2026, for the 2004 abduction, robbery, and asphyxiation of Laura Lee Crane in Fort Worth, Texas - LeJames Norman – Executed on September 16, 2026, by lethal injection at the Huntsville Unit for the 2005 triple murder of Celso Lopez, Tiffani Peacock, and Sam Roberts in Edna, Texas. - Ker'Sean Olajuwa Ramey – Executed on September 23, 2026, by lethal injection at the Huntsville Unit for the same 2005 triple murder case in Edna, Texas (co-defendant of LeJames Norman) - Jamaal Howard – Executed on October 7, 2026, at 8:03 p.m. by lethal injection (pentobarbital) at the Huntsville Unit for the 2000 robbery and fatal shooting of convenience store clerk Vickie Swartout in Silsbee, Texas. Howard's sister watched in distress His sister was among witnesses watching through a window from an adjacent room. After the drugs were administered and Howard began making snoring sounds she became distraught, exclaiming several times: “Get me out of here.” She was assisted by corrections officers in exiting the witness room. Howard's final words Asked by the warden if he had a final statement, Howard apologized profusely to some members of Vickie Swartout’s family, who watched through a window just feet from the death chamber. "I wish that you accept my apology and I wish for your forgiveness," he said, shortly before the injection got underway. "I’m sorry for what happened. I wish you can learn to forgive me one of these days." He also thanked his friends and family and said he loved them, adding he was "in a good state of mind to find peace and the Lord, so I thank y’all." He concluded with: "Hey, enjoy life, and peace to y’all." Jamaal Howard given lethal injection and confirmed dead His execution was due to take place at 6pm local time. Following a slight delay Howard was pronounced dead at 8:03 p.m. local time on Wednesday. Read the full story by clicking here. Howard described as 'chatty' on drive to execution On Wednesday, Howard was described as “chatty” during the 45-mile (70-kilometer) drive from the death row prison to the Huntsville Unit where executions are carried out, said Amanda Hernandez, a spokesperson for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. “He made small talk with the officers through the whole trip,” she said. Once inside the Huntsville prison, he was taken to a small holding cell near the death chamber and remained talkative. “He was asking questions and was very engaged in the process,” Hernandez said. Florida has seen most executions this year - including 77-year-old man Florida has carried out 16 executions so far this year, the most of any state, including a 77-year-old man last month. Curtis Wilkie Beasley was put to death on September 29 for a deadly hammer attack on a woman decades ago. He was convicted of first-degree murder, robbery and grand theft auto in the 1995 killing of Carolyn Monfort at her home south of Orlando. Beasley was pronounced dead at 6:12pm following a three-drug injection at Florida State Prison near Starke. The death chamber curtain opened at 6pm with Beasley already strapped to a gurney with an IV in his arm. A spiritual adviser sat at his feet, remaining there throughout the execution. When a warden asked whether he wished to make a final statement, Beasley said, “I want to apologise for all the mistakes I made.” The week before, the Florida Supreme Court rejected arguments that executing a man of Beasley’s age who was suffering from cognitive decline would constitute cruel and unusual punishment. The US Supreme Court declined to intervene and Beasley was the seventh Florida prisoner over 70 to be executed this year. Howard is intellectually disabled and suffers severe mental illness, claim lawyers Jamaal Howard's lawyers have argued that he is intellectually disabled as well as suffering severe mental illness and his execution should be halted. Authorities in Texas said that he has not presented evidence that would show he meets the requirements for a claim of intellectual disability. He appealed to the US Supreme Court to stop the execution. The Supreme Court in 2002 had barred the execution of intellectually disabled people. But it has given states some discretion in how they determine such disabilities. Reportedly according to court filings, Howard has suffered from severe mental illness dating back to his adolescence and experienced hallucinations at the time of his offence. Howard's lawyers fail to block execution after Pike survived lethal injections Lawyers for Jamaal Howard argued that after the botched execution of Christa Pike, their client should have a stay. “Texas should not be eager to follow in Tennessee’s footsteps; a stay would keep that from happening,” Howard’s lawyers had argued to the court. Texas has executed six people so far this year, with two more scheduled after Howard, who is set to become the 30th person executed nationwide in 2026. Howard sentenced to death for killing of convenience shop worker Jamaal Howard was found guilty of capital murder in the 2000 killing of Vickie Swartout, 42, who was shot once in the chest during a robbery at a convenience shop. Evidence presented at the trial included the store’s surveillance video, which showed Howard shooting Ms Swartout. Howard, who was 20 at the time, took $114 and a carton of cigarettes from the store in the small, rural town of Silsbee, about 100 miles northeast of Houston, according to court records. Texas court refuses to halt Jamaal Howard execution A Texas court has refused to halt the execution of a man who fatally shot a convenience store clerk after his attorneys cited the failed lethal injection of Christa Pike in Tennessee. The execution in the Huntsville Unit, Texas, is set to take place in less than two hours and would be the first in the US since Pike survived her execution last week. Because the same drug used in Pike’s attempted execution — pentobarbital — would be used in Texas for 46-year-old Jamaal Howard, his lawyers argued to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals the drug poses the same risks. His lawyers also raised concerns over the quality of the state’s execution drugs. The court denied the stay request without elaboration. How Pike may have survived two doses of lethal drugs Christa Pike regaining consciousness and speaking a week after receiving two doses of execution drugs in Tennessee has astonished even medical professionals. Lawyers for Pike, 50, called her recovery “medically unprecedented” after she was placed on a ventilator following the bungled September 30 attempt to make her the first woman put to death in Tennessee in 200 years. A judge was told at a hearing today that Pike was “speaking limitedly” and a long recovery is expected. Pike is the only person to survive after receiving lethal injection drugs during an execution, according to the Death Penalty Information Centre. Many details of the execution process remain secretive, and Tennessee officials say they are investigating what went wrong. Medical experts raised a few possibilities that could explain how Pike was able to survive the injections, including the potential drug quality and the placement of IV lines. Tennessee’s executioners had difficulties earlier this year with IV lines for another execution, leading to it being called off. Man set to be executed in hours - as lawyers cite Christa Pike case Lawyers for a Texas man who killed a convenience store clerk are asking a judge to stay his execution by lethal injection set for midnight UK time - citing the failed execution of Christa Pike. The same drug used in her attempted execution - pentobarbital - would be used for Jamaal Howard, and his lawyers argue the drug poses the same risks to him. They believe the supply has become degraded. This would be the first execution since the botched attempt on Pike. Pike's lawyers alleged her execution was marred by blown veins, as well as Tennessee’s deteriorated pentobarbital and a lack of emergency medical care. “There is a similar risk,” Howard’s lawyers wrote, “that Texas’s execution drugs are likewise degraded, as they are far past the original beyond-use dates that the pharmacopeia allows for drugs of this kind.” Texas has executed six people so far this year, with two more scheduled after Howard, which would be the 30th execution nationwide in 2026. Pike's hands 'look like blown up surgical gloves' Lawyer Randy Spivey said Christa Pike's hands "looked like if you were to blow up a surgical glove". He added: “The swelling was extraordinary, and that’s, that’s probably as far as I can go.” In the hearing, her lawyers had called for Pike's hands to be unshackled from her bed in a Nashville hospital. What we learnt from hearing over Pike's failed execution At a hearing in Nashville, Christa Pike’s lawyers asked the court to order the Tennessee Department of Correction to save evidence in the case and provide more information about what went wrong. A judge ordered the state to preserve “anything that was in the actual room.” “Part of the issue that we are facing is up until yesterday, our client was unconscious, unable to communicate with counsel, unable to communicate with medical providers, and without her consent”, Luke Ihnen, a federal public defender, told the court. Hence a new lawsuit could not be filed, he said. Her legal team said Pike’s prognosis remains unclear and, at a minimum, she faces a lengthy recovery. Her arms were burned and blistered after the attempted lethal injection and she remains handcuffed to the hospital bed. 'There are so many questions that need to be answered' One of Pike's lawyer said it was "unimaginable" that the state would try to execute her again. Randy Spivey told reporters: "There are so many questions that need to be answered, not by Christa but by the state of Tennessee - one of those questions has to be how much suffering is enough. "Christa has survived child sexual abuse, physical abuse, rapes and more than 20 years of solitary confinement and then September 30 happens. "We have to ask how much suffering is enough. We continue to ask Gov Lee to commute Christa's death sentence, after all we have seen and all that we do not know it is unimaginable that the state would try and execute her again." Botched execution was 'foreseeable and foreseen' Christa Pike's legal team said the botched execution was “foreseeable and foreseen” due to her medical condition. Randy Spivey said: “What happened to Christa is exactly what the state was warned would happen, and there are so many questions that need to be answered, not by Christa — but by the state of Tennessee." He added: "Christa was at peace. She helped the execution team find what they thought was venous access." 'She has not been able to swallow or eat' Christa Pike has not been able to swallow or eat since she has regained consciousness, her lawyer said. Mr Spivey said "on Tuesday Christa Pike woke up and began talking" and added "I don't have an explanation for what happened". He continued: "Christa has a long road to recovery. She has a blood clot in one of her arms, pneumonia, and has not able to swallow yet. "She has not eaten, she cannot move either of her arms, both of her arms are tremendously swollen. We don't know what if any function she will regain in her arms, but we do know that there is a long road ahead." Pike was 'set to have life support turned off' before waking up A second lawyer for Christa Pike, Randy Spivey, speaking outside the court house, said that it was her legal team's understanding she was "brain dead" on Monday - and that "life support" would be removed the next day. She woke up on Tuesday. He said that Pike was a "survivor". He added she had survived "child sexual abuse, rapes of multiple men, a suicide attempt when she was 12, and she survived a state's attempt to execute her". 'Don't simply take state's word over what happened' Outside the court house, her lawyer said the hearing was the "first step to preserve constitutional rights". He said it was a "botched execution" and that Pike's lawyers were looking to preserve evidence for "transparency". He urged people "not to simply take the state's word over what happened", and said the state's case was "shrouded in secrecy" - claiming it was trying to "obscure what happened". 'Court will reserve ruling on whether Pike has access to tablet' The judge says that she will reserve a judgement on whether Christa Pike can have access to a tablet while she is in hospital. Pike used the tablet to communicate with her friends and family while in jail, with the messages monitored by the Tennessee Department of Correction. State lawyer John Ayers said he did not know the circumstances of how she would use the tablet and that there are “a number of security considerations that have to be taken into account.” Based on his reply, the judge said she wanted more "information" before she made a decision. 'Any recording of the execution will need to be preserved' The judge also stated in her ruling: "Anything in regard to the actual drug that was used needs to be maintained and preserved, as well as any supplies that may have come from any manufacturer, administering those products. "All photographs, video recording, audio recordings, any surveillance footage of the execution, will need to be maintained." Pike's medical documents in the state's possession also need to be preserved. Judge grants motion to preserve evidence in Pike's botched execution Judge I’Ashea Myles says the case "is unique to say the least" and that the outcome of the attempted excution "could not have been anticipated". "In light of the evolving situation the court will pen and grant its own order, granting the motion preserving relevant evidence," she said. "As a primary matter we want all drugs surrendered, IV lines, tubing, which are within the state's possession: needles cathers, medical supplies, restraints, gurneys. Anything that was in the actual room needs to be preserved." State has listed evidence collected from execution chamber A list has been made by the state, of evidence that was taken from the execution chamber and logged in a preservation room. These include log books, observation logs, medical waste and products, and electrocardiogram readouts The state lawyer noted “there may be some equipment that the plaintiffs are seeking in this motion that may not be in TDOC’s possession.” He noted “portions of those IV lines that could have been still attached to Ms Pike when she was transported to the hospital.” Pike lawyers 'frustrated over evidence secreted away' by state Christa Pike's lawyer says their team are "frustrated", claiming that "the information (belonging to the state) has been repeatedly and deliberately secreted away". Luke Ihnen added: "We don't know what they have because they won't tell us." One request is for the "inspection of any residue of the chemicals" involved in the execution, and access to speak with Pike. Ihnen says members of her legal team had to wait two and a half hours to speak with their client. Preservation order needed in case of 'future execution', says Pike lawyer Christa Pike's lawyer Luke Ihnen says the preservation of evidence is necesssary in case the state intends to try and execute her again. He pointed to the state's claim that there was no “imminent execution,” but argued there has been no commitment beyond that. “’Imminent’ does not preclude future execution,” Ihnen said. “The state has made no promises that Ms. Pike will not be subject to a future execution, and the evidence that we are seeking to preserve now is relevant for any future challenge that she makes.” Fresh attempt to execute Pike 'likely' to fail, says lawyer A new attempt to execute Christa Pike is also "likely" to fail, says her lawyer. "The state has made no promises that Ms Pike will not be subject to a future execution," he said. "And the evidence that we are seeking to preserve now is relevant for any future challenge that she makes. Because, as we pled in January, the same thing is likely to happen." Lethal drug can 'cause extreme pain upon injection', says Pike lawyer Christa Pike's lawyer Luke Ihnen said how the lethal injection drug can "cause extreme pain upon injection". He told the hearing how she had a "history of difficulty with blood draws and needle insertion". And he said that as her "veins are so difficult to access", it was likely that those "physical characteristics would interfere with the proper delivery of the poison". State lawyer 'not in position' to say if Pike will be rescheduled for execution Will Ayers, a lawyer for the state, says he is "not in the position" to say if Christa Pike will be rescheduled for execution. "I can’t answer that question I’m not in the position to," he told the judge. "That is within the purview of the Tennessee supreme court."