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A court filing has revealed that convicted murderer Christa Pike has a rare form of cancer.
Nine months before the 50-year-old’s botched execution in Tennessee took place, her lawyers made an attempt to warn that her diagnosis could result in “unnecessary and superadded pain and suffering, terror, and disgrace.”
The complaint, obtained by PEOPLE, noted her “platelet count is significantly elevated, likely due to a rare form of blood cancer called myeloproliferative disorder’.
“A pulmonary edema is not simply painful or uncomfortable; it can create a sense of suffocating or drowning that has been likened by experts to the sensation intentionally induced by the practice of waterboarding—an unambiguous form of outright torture,” Pike’s lawyer says in the filing.
Her legal team also cited problems with her veins and that new protocol meant immediate phone access during the execution wouldn’t be available.
The revelation comes as Pike has issued a plea not to be sent back to her former prison block one month after becoming the first-ever death row inmate to survive a lethal injection execution.
She claimed in a motion that her life will be in danger, according to The Post.
The convicted murderer claimed that she still wants out of the medical ward at Debra K. Johnson Rehabilitation Center, where she’s been in solitary confinement since the botched execution on September 30, according to an emergency order filed in federal court.
“This pod houses inmates with significant histories of assaults and disciplinary problems,” Pike wrote.
“In my two years living in this pod…I witnessed multiple assaults by close custody inmates of other inmates and guards, multiple individuals who were undergoing acute psychological breakdowns, and significant danger.
“In my current physical condition, I could not defend myself or get away if another inmate attacked me. I am afraid that I will be seriously hurt if I am moved to that pod while I am this weak,” her statement continued.
Pike also complained that returning to the unit would put her at “high risk of infection and further injury” because she would be forced to clean an alleged “roach-infested shower” she previously used, according to the court documents.
The convicted killer, who was poised to become the first woman executed in Tennessee in over 200 years, spent days unconscious and in critical condition after surviving two doses of pentobarbital allegedly administered with at least 10 needles.
She miraculously woke up and began speaking in full sentences, even after her legal team believed that she was brain dead on October 5, and expected her to be taken off life support the following day.
Although Pike is still receiving treatment for her injuries, her lawyers argued that keeping her in the prison’s infirmary, where she allegedly lacks “meaningful human contact”, violates the terms of a 2024 settlement agreement with the Tennessee Department of Corrections.
The motion asks a federal judge to restore her conditions of confinement under that agreement, which allows Pike to work, eat, and spend time with fellow prisoners, just not inside her former pod.
“This renewed isolation, coming right after the execution attempt and after twenty-eight years of solitary confinement, is causing me serious psychological harm and trauma,” Pike moaned in the motion.
“Each day I remain in isolation adds to that harm.”
The convicted killer, who was poised to become the first woman executed in Tennessee in over 200 years, spent days unconscious and in critical condition after surviving two doses of pentobarbital allegedly administered with at least 10 needles.
She miraculously woke up and began speaking in full sentences, even after her legal team believed that she was brain dead on October 5, and expected her to be taken off life support the following day.
Although Pike is still receiving treatment for her injuries, her lawyers argued that keeping her in the prison’s infirmary, where she allegedly lacks “meaningful human contact”, violates the terms of a 2024 settlement agreement with the Tennessee Department of Corrections.
The motion asks a federal judge to restore her conditions of confinement under that agreement, which allows Pike to work, eat and spend time with fellow prisoners, just not inside her former pod.
“This renewed isolation, coming right after the execution attempt and after twenty-eight years of solitary confinement, is causing me serious psychological harm and trauma,” Pike moaned in the motion.
“Each day I remain in isolation adds to that harm.”
Following her failed lethal injection attempt, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee halted all executions in the state for the rest of the year and ordered an independent review, while prisons boss Frank Strada resigned.
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