Tennessee Governor Bill Lee said Department of Correction Commissioner Frank Strada is resigning after the failed lethal injection of Christa Pike, and he has halted executions in the state for the year pending an independent review.
Tennessee's prisons chief is resigning after the failed execution of death-row inmate Christa Pike, BBC News reported. Governor Bill Lee announced the change on Saturday in a joint statement with Department of Correction Commissioner Frank Strada.
Strada said stepping down was in the best interests of the state and called the investigation into the incident appropriate and necessary. Lee said Strada had served with integrity. The Washington Post reported that Strada offered his resignation and would leave sometime this month.
Pike was sentenced to death in 1996 for the murder of Colleen Slemmer. BBC reported that she survived two injections and was in critical condition in a Tennessee hospital while her lawyers sought to commute the sentence. The Post said two doses of lethal-injection drugs left her unconscious.
Lee ordered an independent review and halted all executions in the state for the year. Pike's lawyers called the resignation justified but said it did nothing to help her now, and described the attempt as a systemic failure beyond any one person.
The announcement followed the Wednesday execution attempt. No new execution date has been set while the review is underway.
People Sentiments Negative
- Pike's legal team called the resignation justified but said it does nothing to help Christa now.
- Governor Bill Lee said Commissioner Strada had served with integrity and put Tennesseans' interests first.