"Afraid I'll be harmed": Death row inmate who survived two execution attempts requests transfer

Christa Pike, a death row inmate from Tennessee who survived two failed execution attempts, is asking a federal judge to bar prison authorities from returning her to the maximum security wing, claiming she fears attacks and her physical condition is vulnerable.

Christa Pike, a death row inmate from the state of Tennessee in the United States, is asking a federal judge to bar prison authorities from returning her to the maximum security wing at the Debra K. Johnson Rehabilitation Center, after surviving two failed execution attempts on September 30. According to the British Daily Star, she claims she fears attacks from other inmates and that her medical condition after the failures leaves her particularly vulnerable. Pike survived the attempts after being given two doses of pentobarbital and having at least ten needles inserted. Her attorneys argue that the maximum security wing houses inmates with a history of serious physical assaults, and that her current weakness places her at acute risk. Additionally, they argue that holding her in isolation in the prison clinic violates a 2024 settlement agreement that guaranteed her the right to socialize with other inmates.