Christa Pike Execution

Christa Pike is back on her feet after surviving two lethal injections ... she's now able to walk again following the botched execution.

Her lawyer, Stephen Ferrell, told the BBC ... "She is up and walking for the first time today, but just around the room, not very far."

Additionally, a spokesperson for her attorney Randy Spivey told PEOPLE she's "taken a few steps."

Christa Pike's aunt says her niece is still alive because it's what God wants ... she believes the Almighty is in control now -- not officials in Tennessee.

Carrie Ross -- Christa's aunt who helped raise her -- told the Daily Mail she believes Christa surviving execution by lethal injection last week proves God wants her to live.

Christa's aunt says, "When God puts his hand on someone, God is in control. Not the Department of Correction, not us, but God."

Texas has carried out an execution days after Tennessee inmate Christa Pike survived two doses of lethal injection ... with the condemned killer's final words directed at his victim's family.

Jamaal Howard was pronounced dead Wednesday night at a Texas prison after receiving a dose of pentobarbital ... the same drug used during Pike's botched execution last week.

Howard was convicted of fatally shooting convenience store clerk Vickie Swartout during a 2000 robbery in Texas. Surveillance video showed Howard shooting Swartout in the chest before stealing $114 and a carton of cigarettes.

Before the execution, Howard apologized to Swartout's family, who watched from a viewing room near the death chamber.

Christa Pike's courtroom battle produced one surprisingly hopeful clue about her recovery ... she wants her iPad back, a telling clue about her brain function.

Los Angeles Magazine reporter Lauren Conlin joined Jakson on TMZ's "In The Know" Wednesday and said that detail jumped out at her ... if Pike wants to message friends, family and her attorneys, Conlin thinks that's a good sign she may not be dealing with the severe brain damage many feared.

Conlin also says Wednesday's preservation order is a big deal ... because Pike's lawyers want the actual pentobarbital from the failed execution tested.

Christa Pike woke up Tuesday asking, "Where am I and who are you?" ... just hours after her attorneys say they believed she was brain-dead and would be taken off life support.

Her lawyers revealed the stunning turn Wednesday, saying Pike is now conscious and talking -- but she's angry, confused and still trying to understand what happened to her.

They say Pike has pneumonia and a blood clot in one arm, can't move either arm and still can't eat because she can't swallow. Her attorneys say they don't know how much function she'll regain.

The swelling is also severe -- one attorney compared her hands and arms to an inflated surgical glove -- and she's still shackled at the feet and on her right arm.

A Tennessee judge has ordered evidence from Christa Pike's botched execution to be preserved ... as her attorneys fight over what happens next.

Pike's legal team was back in court Wednesday morning for a status conference tied to an emergency motion filed after the failed execution.

Her legal team also revealed Pike is still shackled and handcuffed to her hospital bed ... even though medical staff have asked for the restraints to be removed.

As we reported, Tennessee tried to put Pike to death last week, but she survived two doses of the lethal injection drug pentobarbital and was rushed from prison to a Nashville hospital.

Texas is moving forward with an execution just one week after Christa Pike survived a botched lethal injection in Tennessee ... and the condemned man's lawyers want to pump the brakes.

Jamaal Howard is scheduled to be put to death Wednesday in Texas, which uses the same drug -- pentobarbital -- that failed to kill Pike after two doses.

Howard's attorneys are asking Gov. Greg Abbott for a 30-day delay while they seek more information about Texas' supply of the drug ... arguing he shouldn't be executed "within days of the same drug failing in another state."

Christa Pike is awake and talking after surviving Tennessee's botched attempt to execute her last week ... her attorneys told TMZ Tuesday.

Pike remains hospitalized in Nashville, where her lawyers say she's still receiving critical care after suffering severe damage to her arms. Despite the improvement, they say her prognosis remains unclear, and she's facing a long recovery.

We're told her legal team plans to see and speak with her this evening.

A Tennessee death row inmate convicted of killing his buddy shortly after bailing him out of jail just caught a major break ... thanks to the botched execution of Christa Pike.

Gary Wayne Sutton was scheduled to be executed Dec. 3, but Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee pulled the plug on the state's remaining executions this year after officials failed to put Pike to death.

Sutton has been sitting on death row for decades for the 1992 murders of siblings Tommy Griffin and Connie Branam ... and the circumstances surrounding Griffin's death are especially wild.

Tennessee's prison chief is stepping down just days after the failed execution of Christa Pike left her on a ventilator.

Tennessee Department of Correction Commissioner Frank Strada said that his resignation "is in the best interests" of the state ... as it conducts a third-party review of why the execution was botched.

Tennessee Governor Bill Lee -- who announced the resignation Saturday -- also spoke out about the decision for Strada to step aside, saying he was "grateful for his commitment" to ensure a smooth transition.

Before 2 lethal injections failed to execute her ... Christa Pike refused her last meal and requested the cheesy dish be given to the homeless instead.

When Pike was offered the chance to choose a last meal ... she asked that the $20 allocated for the food be used to buy pizza for the homeless ... the New York Times reported.

As you know ... Pike's execution did not go as planned. Despite being administered 2 lethal injections, Pike complained about pain in her arm before becoming unconscious and snoring.

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Christa Pike's blood condition may have saved her life temporarily, a doctor says ... though he's making it clear she doesn't have a super resistance to pentobarbital -- the drug that was supposed to kill her.

Dr. Joel Zivot -- a respected anesthesiologist who previously examined Christa -- sat down with Jakson on TMZ's YouTube series, "In The Know," to discuss what happened during Wednesday's botched execution in Tennessee ... telling us he thinks Christa's thrombocytosis may have played a role.

Basically, Dr. Zivot says Christa has a high platelet count ... and platelets rush to the site of an injury to clot the blood -- keeping humans from bleeding out if they get a paper cut.

An IV punctures the vein ... so platelets rush to the area and, in a person like Christa with thrombocytosis, excessive clots can form inside the vein, blocking it off entirely.

Christa Pike experienced extreme pain during her botched execution in Tennessee because the drug administered to her by the state failed to knock her out and may have caused her to jerk around and foam at the mouth, according to a death penalty expert.

Deborah Denno, a 30-year professor at Fordham Law School whose articles on capital punishment have been cited by the U.S. Supreme Court, tells TMZ ... the whole objective in putting someone to death is to make sure the prisoner does not feel any pain during the execution -- and Tennessee failed big time on that front concerning Pike. 

In her case, Pike was administered two doses of Pentobarbital -- a barbiturate that acts as a central nervous depressant -- to carry out the state's lethal injection mandate, Denno tells us.

Christa Pike was unconscious more than a day after officials screwed up her execution ... and she's not even breathing on her own, her lawyers say.

The convicted killer's legal team filed documents Friday asking a judge to preserve all evidence related to the botched execution ... and noted that, as of the night of October 1, Pike was "intubated, on a ventilator, and remains unconscious."

Her attorneys say her arms were swollen, burned, and blistered ... and they say hospital staff are working furiously to save her life and clear the pentobarbital from her system.

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