Tennessee prisons chief to resign after failed execution of Christa Pike
Tennessee Department of Correction Commissioner Frank Strada will resign later this month following the failed execution of death row prisoner Christa Pike, Gov. Bill Lee announced Saturday.
Strada said the department had followed its established execution protocol but that stepping aside was “in the best interest of Tennesseans” while an independent review determines what happened. Lee, who ordered the review, said an interim commissioner would be named later.
Pike survived two injections of pentobarbital during Wednesday’s execution attempt and was taken to a hospital. Her attorneys said Friday that she remained unconscious, intubated and on a ventilator while medical staff worked to clear the drug from her body. They alleged that improperly placed or failed intravenous lines allowed the pentobarbital to enter tissue rather than her bloodstream. The Department of Correction has …