Tennessee prison officials are asking a judge not to force them to reveal the supplier of their lethal injection drugs ... TMZ has learned.
An unidentified official from the Tennessee Department of Correction filed a declaration in Christa Pike’s court battle over her botched execution.
The official claims to be responsible for procuring pentobarbital for use in carrying out death sentences. According to the declaration, the state’s supplier has made it clear … if the government reveals who the supplier is ... they will no longer supply it to the state.
Tennessee state attorneys have denounced Christa Pike's request to be transferred into a low-security prison unit after her botched execution.
The officials claimed in federal docs that the murderer "thinks she knows better than her treating providers and officials about how to treat her medical needs while keeping her safe and secure" ... according to the New York Post.
The docs were in response to Pike's legal team's Oct. 30 emergency motion that requested her transfer from solitary confinement to a low-security unit with other inmates.
Christa Pike claims prison officials are making her clean a shower crawling with roaches, despite her weakened physical condition ... and she's afraid the filthy conditions could leave her with a serious infection.
The death row inmate recently returned to the emergency room after being sent back to prison following her botched execution attempt, and now she's raising concerns about the conditions she's facing behind bars.
According to a new court filing, obtained by TMZ, Pike says her physical health has deteriorated to the point where she's worried about being exposed to infections and suffering further injuries -- arguing the prison's expectations are unreasonable, given her current medical condition.
Dr. Mark Fowler -- who oversaw Christa Pike's botched execution and a previous failed attempt to put another inmate to death -- is speaking out about both controversial procedures.
In a candid interview with Intelligencer ... Fowler said of his work ... "I'm not an evil, vicious person. I'm not unscrupulous. I'm not uncaring, and I'm not incompetent."
Upon realizing that Christa was still alive during her execution attempt, Fowler admitted he was worried she was "going to be in a permanent vegetative state with a quarter-million dollars in medical expenses."
Christa Pikesurvived a botched execution ... but now she's fighting another battle behind bars, asking a federal judge to get her out of solitary confinement ... TMZ has learned.
According to court documents, obtained by TMZ, Pike filed an emergency motion Friday, claiming Tennessee prison officials are violating a 2024 settlement agreement that was supposed to end her decades-long isolation.
Pike's attorneys say she's been kept alone in the prison infirmary since returning from the hospital Oct. 9 ... with officials refusing to say when she'll be allowed to interact with other inmates again.
Christa Pike says she made peace with dying ... but after her execution failed, she's been left struggling to make peace with living.
In her first public statement since the botched Sept. 30 execution, shared by her legal team with TMZ, Pike opens up about the physical and emotional toll of surviving ... saying she's still in pain a month later.
In a first-person letter, she writes ... "Several days later I woke up alone in a hospital confused and in pain. There hasn't been a moment since that night when I haven't been in pain. My body hurts. My arms hurt. My hands hurt. My throat hurts. I still struggle to speak."
Christa Pike survived two lethal injections ... but Tennessee's governor is signaling she may not get a free pass from death row just because the state failed to execute her the first time.
Gov. Bill Lee addressed Pike's fate Wednesday ... saying he expects her death sentence to remain in place despite the botched execution that left her hospitalized.
Asked whether Tennessee would attempt to execute Pike again or commute her sentence to life in prison, Lee told reporters, "I suspect her sentence will be the same as before unless determined otherwise by the courts."
Jacob Allen Morley-- a convicted felon serving a life sentence for murder -- has allegedly broken out of prison and sparked a manhunt in Tennessee.
The Tennessee Department of Correction announced the shocking news in a statement Monday ... stating he escaped from the Northwest Correctional Complex in Tiptonville, TN, late Sunday night.
TDOC states it has searched and cleared buildings and structures in the surrounding area ... and the Tennessee Highway Patrol is assisting with the investigation. So far, though, they have been unable to find him.
Christa Pike is making significant strides in her recovery after surviving a botched execution in Tennessee ... but doctors are still trying to determine the extent of any lasting psychological and cognitive damage ... TMZ has learned.
An attorney for Christa tells TMZ ... she's continuing to improve physically and is now able to walk more on her own. The attorney says Christa's speech has also improved, and she's now able to communicate more clearly and form full sentences.
However, her attorney says her cognitive and psychological functioning are still being monitored and it could take another month or longer before there's a clearer picture of any potential long-term effects from the ordeal.
Casey Anthony says America needs to do away with the death penalty ... 15 years after she narrowly avoided the punishment herself.
Casey -- who was found not guilty of murdering her 2-year-old daughter Caylee back in the summer of 2011 -- says state-sanctioned death as a punishment is inhumane ... claiming there's no evidence that the severe punishment stops people from committing crimes.
"Ghost Adventures" star Zak Bagans is giving his Vegas museum a morbid update ... he's now displaying a letter Christa Pike sent to a pen pal from prison ... plus a lock of her hair.
Zak tells TMZ ... he started displaying Christa's hair and correspondence at his Haunted Museum on Sunday ... and they're inside a real jail cell outfitted with actual bars from a decommissioned prison.
He tells us ... "That is the only place that I feel is appropriate to display items like this. Pike did an absolutely brutal crime."
Christa Pike couldn't get help for quite some time after her botched execution ... a result of confusion between prison officials and first responders.
According to 911 dispatch recordings reviewed by the Associated Press, it took over half an hour for prison officials to even confirm to first responders that the call for help was legit.
Apparently, there was some confusion between the first responders and the prison officials about whether or not help was actually needed in the execution chamber ... leading to a serious delay in Christa's care.
New Jane Doe texts revealed in the alleged Cornell sexual assault, Pete Hegseth wants to live stream executions, and one of President Trump's ambassadors is accused in a $100K caper. Plus, Sofia Vergara's ex is pissed! So, we gotta ask ...
A Frontier Airlines flight turned into a wrestling match when a mechanical issue prevented tired passengers from getting off the plane ... and a male flight attendant got into a violent exchange with a woman on video.
Check out the new YouTube collab between TMZ and the New York Post, "The Low Down," where we bring you stories that are gripping, outrageous, and sometimes scandalous.
Text chains between the Cornell Jane Doe and two of the Chi Phi fraternity brothers she would later accuse of sexual assault show her texting them about a "gang bang" that was "our body our choice," trying to find the source of campus rumors and looking back on an "insane/jaw dropping" moment -- snorting ketamine off his penis.
Christa Pike is going through some major psychological trauma after surviving her botched execution ... this according to her legal team.
TMZ obtained a statement from Pike's lawyers -- Randy Spivey, Kelly Gleason, Stephen Ferrell and Luke Ihnen -- who say her physical health is improving ... but the ordeal has taken a psychological toll.
The lawyers say she's eating a regular diet and her lungs are clear, but added ... "While her physical recovery has been remarkable, significant questions remain about the long-term effects of what she endured."
