Tennessee judge orders state to preserve all evidence from Christa Pike’s botched execution

(CBS, KYMA) - A judge in Tennessee ordered Wednesday that the state preserve all evidence from Christa Pike's botched execution.

Pike, 50, survived two rounds of lethal injection last Wednesday, which left her unconscious and on a ventilator.

Her legal team warned authorities that she had problems with her veins.

Pike's attorneys said she's now awake and talking, as well as being handcuffed and shackled to her hospital bed, despite damage to her arms.

"She has a blood clot in one of her arms, she has pneumonia, she is not able to swallow yet, so she has not eaten. She cannot move either of her arms," said Randy Spivey, Pike's attorney.

Pike was convicted and sentenced to death in the 1995 murder of former classmate Colleen Slemmer, 19. Pike was 18-years-old when the crime was committed.

Tennessee's top corrections officer has since resigned, and Gov. Bill Lee (R-Tenn.) has halted all executions for the rest of the year, and he's ordered an outside review.

"I and others warned this that this could go awry, and there was no change in it. There was no extra consideration. And this was the consequence. We're all, you know, I think worst off having witnessed this terrible event," said Dr. Joel Zivot, Associate Professor of Anesthesiology and Surgery for Emory University School of Medicine.

Pikes attorneys are calling on Gov. Lee to commute her sentence.