Tennessee corrections commissioner Frank Strada is resigning after death-row prisoner Christa Pike survived two lethal-injection doses and remains in critical condition.
Tennessee Governor Bill Lee said on Saturday that Department of Correction Commissioner Frank Strada will step down after the failed execution of Christa Pike. BBC News reported the announcement came in a joint statement. The Tennessean said Strada submitted his resignation and will leave later this month.
Pike, sentenced to death in 1996 for the murder of Colleen Slemmer, survived two rounds of lethal-injection drugs on 30 September and is in critical condition in a Tennessee hospital, the BBC reported. Her lawyers are seeking to commute the sentence. Lee ordered an independent review, called the episode deeply disturbing, and halted executions in the state for the year, including the 3 December date set for Gary Wayne Sutton.
Strada said resigning was in the best interests of Tennesseans as the review proceeds, and that he still believed the department followed protocol. The Tennessean noted a May attempt to execute Tony Carruthers was also called off after staff could not set IV lines, meaning two of three execution attempts under Strada in 2026 failed.
Pike's attorneys called the resignation justified but said it does not help her now, and described the failure as systemic. Lee said Strada had served with integrity and thanked him for putting the state's interests first.
The independent review is the next formal step. No new execution dates were announced after Lee's pause.
People Sentiments Negative
- Pike's lawyers called the resignation justified but said it does nothing to help her now.
- Lee called the failed execution deeply disturbing.
- Strada said the review is appropriate and necessary.