Tennessee prison chief resigns after failed execution of Christa Pike, governor says
The head of Tennessee’s prison system is resigning after the failed execution of Christa Pike, Governor Bill Lee announced Saturday.
Frank Strada, commissioner of the Department of Correction, will resign this month, Lee said.
Strada said in a statement that the resignation was “in the best interest of Tennesseans” while an independent review determines what happened Wednesday when the state failed to execute Pike despite administering two doses of a deadly drug.
“I believe this review is entirely appropriate and necessary, and I look forward to doing everything I can to help determine exactly what happened,” Strada said.
Pike was taken to a hospital, where she was on a ventilator and unconscious for the next few hours, her attorneys said in a court filing Friday.
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The death row inmate who survived what were believed to be two lethal injections is receiving lifesaving care at a Tennessee hospital. Ryan Young reports.
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The death row inmate who survived what were believed to be two lethal injections is receiving lifesaving care at a Tennessee hospital. Ryan Young reports.
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Christa Pike unconscious and on respirator after botched execution, lawyers say
Hospital staff were working to save Pike’s life and on Thursday evening were trying to wash away the two doses of pentobarbital, which the state uses to execute prisoners, the lawyers said.
This resounding failure has left both sides of the death penalty debate demanding answers. Lee ordered an independent review. Strada said he believes the state “has carried out its responsibilities in accordance with established protocol.”
Pike’s lawyers said they believe problems with the intravenous lines caused the pentobarbital to leak into his body instead of into his bloodstream.
“Apparently, at no time did any member of the execution team realize that the IV lines were not properly placed or that the veins had burst and that pentobarbital was entering, in whole or in part, Ms. Pike’s body,” they wrote in the court filing.
Strada took over the Department of Corrections in January 2023 after serving as deputy director of the Arizona Department of Corrections. In late 2024, he announced that Tennessee was changing its lethal injection protocol and would only use pentobarbital.
Pike was 18 when she and her boyfriend tortured and killed a classmate, Colleen Slemmer, in a jealous rage. She later became one of the youngest women to be sent to death row.
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