Tennessee prisons chief resigning after botched execution of Christa Pike
The head of Tennessee’s prison system is resigning, Governor Bill Lee announced on Saturday, the first major shake-up since the stunning failed execution of Christa Pike landed her on a ventilator at a hospital. Frank Strada, commissioner of the Department of Correction, will step down this month, Lee said. Strada said in a statement that resigning was “in the best interest of Tennesseans” while…
Frank Strada, the commissioner of Tennessee's Department of Correction, is resigning amid controversy surrounding the botched execution of Christa Pike. Governor Bill Lee announced Strada's departure on Saturday, following the failure to execute Pike using two doses of a lethal drug. Strada cited the need for an independent review to determine what went wrong as the reason for his resignation.
Pike, who was 18 at the time of the crime, was convicted of torturing and killing her classmate Colleen Slemmer in a jealous rage. She has been on a ventilator in a hospital since Wednesday, while her legal team argues that problems with the IV lines caused the pentobarbital to enter her body rather than her bloodstream. The shocking incident has sparked demands for answers from both sides of the death penalty debate, with Lee ordering an independent review and halting any new executions.
Pike's legal team welcomed Strada's resignation but emphasized that it does not help Christa now, stating that the failure reflects a systemic problem within Tennessee's death penalty system.
Written by urgent.news from South China Morning Post's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
This story
This is one outlet's version. Read the fullest account.
