A Tennessee woman has returned to prison after surviving what was meant to be a lethal injection, her lawyers confirmed on Saturday.

Christa Pike (50) walked out of hospital 10 days after receiving two doses of pentobarbital that should have killed her. Medical teams rushed her to hospital in critical condition on 30 September when the execution failed, but she later regained consciousness.

Her lawyers said this week Pike was walking around but remained in a “foggy” mental state.

“Christa Pike was discharged from a local hospital and is now at Deborah K. Johnson Rehabilitation Center where she has been housed for more than 30 years,” her legal team said in a statement on Saturday.

Pike is the only person in US history to survive after receiving lethal doses of execution drugs, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.

Legal fight preceded failed execution

Pike was 18 when she and her boyfriend beat and killed Colleen Slemmer (19) at a job training camp in Tennessee. A court sentenced her to death for the murder.

The execution attempt came after days of legal battles that reached the Supreme Court. Pike’s lawyers had warned the IV protocol would cause needless suffering because of her small veins and a blood condition.

Her legal team has asked Tennessee Governor Bill Lee to convert her sentence to life in prison. Lee, a Republican, has suspended all executions in Tennessee while an independent investigation takes place.

Pentagon livestream plan sparks outrage

Pike’s survival has reignited debate about capital punishment in the United States. The controversy has grown after the Pentagon announced plans to livestream a military execution by firing squad later this year.

Nidal Hasan, a former US Army psychiatrist, is scheduled to die on 3 December at Fort Hood, Texas. He shot and killed 13 people at the base in 2009.

The livestream decision has drawn criticism from public figures across the political spectrum, including many Republicans who support the death penalty.

US President Donald Trump said on Saturday he might block the livestream.

“There are two thoughts: don’t show it and show it,” Trump told reporters at the White House. “Because you know by showing it, maybe other people won’t be doing what he did. So I’ll make a decision ultimately.”

Pope Leo, the first American pontiff, wrote on X on Saturday that “the death penalty is inadmissible because it is an attack on the inviolability and dignity of the person.”

“The common good can be safeguarded and the requirements of justice can be met without recourse to capital punishment,” he said.

Death penalty status across US

Twenty-three of the 50 US states have abolished the death penalty. California, Oregon and Pennsylvania have moratoriums in place.

The federal government stopped executions under president Joe Biden, but Trump’s administration lifted the ban when he returned to office in 2025.