Mother of Christa Pike's victim responds to her being 'conscious and speaking' after botched execution
The mother of Christa Pike's victim has made her feelings clear as the convicted killer continues to receive life-saving treatment in hospital.
In an unprecedented event, Pike would survive two does of the usually deadly pentobarbital, but her legal team made it clear that these had failed to stop her heartbeat, and she was taken to hospital after the execution was paused.
Pike had spent over three decades on death row in the US after she and her former boyfriend Tadaryl Shipp beat, tortured and killed 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer, with Pike allegedly carving a pentagram into her chest and keeping part of her skull.
Slemmer's mother has long advocated for Pike to receive the death penalty but the justice she felt she deserved couldn't be delivered, with Pike's future remaining uncertain as reports suggest she is now conscious and talking in hospital.
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Speaking to NBC affiliate WBIR, she admitted that she had a feeling that Pike would somehow survive the execution, despite her becoming the first person in history to live after the drug was injected, while she also now seems unsure about whether another execution will go ahead.
Martinez seems somewhat resigned to Pike's fate now, refusing to give much of an opinion on what should happen to the 50-year-old killer after her execution went wrong.
She said: “It doesn’t matter what I think.” They’re going to do what they’re going to do."
In the latest update October 6, Pike’s attorneys said that 'despite the severe damage she endured to her arms, she is still handcuffed and shackled to the bed'.
They added: “Her recovery is medically unprecedented. Her prognosis remains unclear but, at a minimum, we expect a long recovery,” they said. “We are incredibly grateful to the first responders and the medical team at the hospital who treated Christa like a human and have provided exceptional care to her. We also want to thank thousands from all over the world who sent messages offering prayers and support for Christa.”
Martinez had previously made it clear that she wanted Pike to face the ultimate punishment for the murder of her daughter Colleen, so she felt extraordinary anger when things didn't go to plan.
She told NBC News: “They went to try to execute her, and she didn’t die.”
Calling it a 'mess', she added: “They didn’t say anything, and then, all of a sudden, they asked all the victims to leave. And we left.
“We didn’t know anything until we got up to the office and saw the commissioner. And he said that it didn’t work, that it didn’t work, and she’s on her way to the hospital.”
Martinez later emphasised that she thought the governor and attorney general had 'f****d up' the procedure.
A number of experts have spoken to LADbible about what could happen next to Pike, with some medical professionals suggesting that the killer could have suffered brain damage from the ordeal, which might make a second execution difficult.
Topics: True Crime
James Moorhouse