Marsha Blackburn expresses support for death penalty following Christa Pike discharge from hospital after botched execution

What This Story Is About

• Sen. Marsha Blackburn expressed her support for the death penalty during the Republican rally in Clarksville on Saturday afternoon.

Why It Matters

• Blackburn’s statements come just hours after Christa Pike was discharged from the hospital, her attorneys announced Saturday morning.

What Happens Next

• Pike is now at the Debra K. Johnson Rehabilitation Center where she has been for more than 30 years, her attorneys said.

For Context

• Attorneys: Christa Pike discharged from hospital

CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV) - Sen. Marsha Blackburn expressed her support for the death penalty during the Republican rally in Clarksville on Saturday afternoon.

“Tennesseans support the death penalty. And when a heinous killer receives the death penalty, Tennesseans want to se it carried out successfully after all the appeals are exhausted. They do not want people to spend decades on death row and they want the victim’s family to be able t get closure,” Blackburn said.

Blackburn’s statements come just hours after Christa Pike was discharged from the hospital, her attorneys announced Saturday morning.

Pike is now at the Debra K. Johnson Rehabilitation Center where she has been for more than 30 years, her attorneys said.

Pike survived after undergoing lethal injection for the 1995 torture and murder of Colleen Slemmer on Sept. 30.

After receiving the injection she was quickly taken to a hospital where she remained unconscious for several days. At one point she was believed to be brain dead, one of her attorneys said.

Her attorneys said she gained consciousness on Oct. 6 and was speaking. Just a few days later, she was reported walking with some assistance. Pike’s attorneys said that her arms were healing and regaining movement.

“She is grateful to the first responders and her medical team for their care in these extraordinary circumstances,” Pike’s attorneys said in a statement Saturday morning. “She is continuing to receive medical care at the prison, and we will continue to track her recovery.”