Tennessee Prisons Chief to Resign After Failed Execution
Tennessee Department of Correction Commissioner Frank Strada will resign this month following the failed execution of Christa Pike, Gov. Bill Lee announced Saturday. Strada said stepping aside was in the state’s best interests while an independent review examines why the lethal-injection procedure did not result in Pike’s death Wednesday.
Pike, 50, survived two doses of pentobarbital, the drug Tennessee uses for executions. In a court filing Friday, her attorneys said she was unconscious and on a ventilator in a hospital. They said medical staff were working to save her life and, as of late Thursday, trying to clear the drug from her system. The account did not provide a later update on her condition.
Pike’s attorneys said they believed problems with the intravenous lines caused the drug to enter her body without flowing properly into her bloodstream. They also questioned whether members of the execution team recognized a problem with the lines. The cause of the failed execution has not been established; Lee has ordered an independent, third-party review.
The governor has halted Tennessee’s remaining scheduled execution for the year while the review proceeds. The incident has prompted calls for answers from people on both sides of the debate over capital punishment. The account does not identify who will conduct the review or say when its findings are expected.
Pike was convicted of killing Colleen Slemmer, a classmate, when Pike was 18. According to the account, Pike and her boyfriend tortured and killed Slemmer. Pike later became one of the youngest women sentenced to death row.
Strada’s departure comes as officials examine the execution attempt and Pike remains hospitalized, according to the latest information in the account. No findings from the independent review have been announced, and the account does not say what steps Tennessee would take before resuming executions.