Christa Pike , who regained consciousness almost six days after Tennessee’s failed attempt to execute her, is aware of what happened and “angry and confused,” one of her attorneys said Wednesday (October 7, 2026).
“She is very aware of what they did to her up to a point,” attorney Randy Spivey said following a court hearing in Nashville where a judge told the state to save evidence from the execution attempt.
At the hearing Wednesday (October 7, 2026), Pike’s attorneys asked the court to order the Tennessee Department of Correction to save evidence in the case and provide more information about what went wrong. Pike’s attorneys wanted a court order to require the prison system to preserve information from the attempted execution, including drug lot numbers, needles, execution logs and other information. Chancery Court Judge I’Ashea Myles indicated that her order to save the evidence would be sweeping, saying the state should maintain recordings, witness accounts, emails along with drugs, syringes, IV lines and other medical items. John W.
A judge told 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” a new lawsuit cannot be filed, Luke Ihnen, a federal public defender, told the court. The Tennessee Attorney General’s Office said a court order was unnecessary. Ayers, assistant attorney general, said evidence from the death chamber already had been collected and logged.
