Death row inmate Christa Pike is breaking her silence for the first time since her botched execution back in September.
Videos by Wide Open Country
Pike was set to be the first woman executed in Tennessee in over 200 years for her role in the 1995 murder of Colleen Slemmer on September 30. But in an unprecedented turn of events, she survived two lethal injection doses. Pike broke her silence for the first time since the failed execution.
Christa Pike Breaks Silence After Failed Execution
In a statement released through her lawyers on Friday (October 30), Pike says that she is "recovering." Still, she adds that she is "deeply hurt by the incompetence" of the state in their failed attempt at executing her.
"My body hurts. My arms hurt. My hands hurt. My throat hurts. I still struggle to speak," the statement reads via ABC News. "And the pain isn't just physical. There is pain in my mind and in my soul," she said.
Pike also says that she had come to terms with her fate when she entered the execution chamber exactly a month ago.
"I walked into the execution chamber at Riverbend men's prison prepared to die. I had made my peace," she said. "I had told the people who loved me, supported me, and stood by me through the years I was grateful for them. I had also told the people in the room who were there to witness my execution that I was leaving them in loving kindness."
The statement adds:
"I don't know why I survived that night. I don't know what comes next. Some days, finding hope is harder than others. I am trying to heal, one day at a time. And I am holding on to the love and kindness of so many people who have reminded me that I am not alone."
Pike and her boyfriend at the time, Tadaryll Shipp, were found guilty of killing 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer in 1995. Slemmer, Shipp, and Pike were all classmates at the Knoxville Job Corps. Prosecutors alleged that Slemmer's death happened because Pike feared that Slemmer would eventually drive a wedge between her and Shipp. So together, the two lovebirds conspired to lure Colleen to a secluded area. There, they allegedly tortured and killed her.
