US prison chief resigns after failed execution of death row inmate Christa Pike
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
Christa Pike, 50, was convicted three decades ago of first-degree murder for her role in the torture and killing of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer in 1995, when Pike was 18.
PHOTO: REUTERS
- The Tennessee Department of Correction head, Frank Strada, resigned after a failed execution left inmate Christa Pike gravely ill and intubated following a lethal injection attempt.
- This was Tennessee's second failed execution in 2023, leading Governor Bill Lee to halt all death penalty executions for the rest of 2026 and order an independent review.
- Pike’s lawyers claim officials ignored medical warnings about her veins and blood disorder, complicating the execution; doctors are working to save her life and clear drugs from her system.
AI generated
NASHVILLE - The head of the Tennessee Department of Correction will step down this month, state officials said on Oct 3, days after convicted murderer Christa Pike was left gravely ill from the state’s failed attempt to execute her by lethal injection.
The botched execution on Sept 30 left Pike unconscious, intubated and hooked to a mechanical ventilator to breathe, her lawyers wrote in an Oct 2 court filing.
It is the state’s second failed execution attempt this year, prompting Tennessee Governor Bill Lee to halt attempts to carry out the death penalty for the rest of 2026.
Lee said on Oct 3 that Frank Strada has resigned as Department of Correction commissioner and would leave his position this month.
The governor had ordered an independent review of the execution attempt at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville, the state capital.
Strada, in a separate statement, said that although he believes his agency’s personnel followed proper protocol, “stepping aside is in the best interest of Tennesseans as the independent review moves forward.”
An interim commissioner will be announced later, the governor’s office said.
“Commissioner Strada has served with integrity, and I appreciate his willingness to put the interests of Tennesseans first during this difficult moment,” Lee said in a statement.
Pike’s lawyers have accused Correction Department officials of ignoring prior warnings from her doctors that her small veins and a blood disorder called thrombocytosis would make placing intravenous lines especially difficult.
Pike, 50, was convicted three decades ago of first-degree murder for her role in the torture and killing of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer in 1995, when Pike was 18.
Doctors were working to save Pike’s life and clear the drug pentobarbital from her system, her lawyers said on Oct 3. REUTERS