Christa Pike's lawyers hold press conference after she regains consciousness

Lawyers for Christa Pike, a Tennessee death-row prisoner, held a press conference after she regained consciousness and began speaking following what her legal team described as a botched attempt by the state to execute her last Wednesday, according to The Guardian.

The Guardian's report notes that in the modern era of the U.S. death penalty, Tennessee has never executed a person who was 18 years old at the time of their offense, with the youngest person executed by the state having been 23.

Over the past 50 years, Tennessee has sent seven men who were 18 at the time of their crimes to death row, but in each case the sentence was later vacated, according to the report.

Pike's case has also drawn attention to that of her co-defendant, Tadryl Shipp, who was 17 at the time of the offense and was therefore barred from execution under Tennessee law; he is serving a life sentence and had an unsuccessful parole hearing in October 2025, The Guardian reported.