The head of Tennessee's prison system is resigning after the state's botched execution of death row inmate Christa Pike, Governor Bill Lee announced Saturday, as he ordered an independent review and halted all executions in the state for the remainder of the year.
Department of Correction Commissioner Frank Strada said stepping down was "in the best interests" of the state and called the investigation into Wednesday's failed lethal injection "entirely appropriate and necessary," according to a joint statement with the governor's office. "Commissioner Strada has served with integrity, and I appreciate his willingness to put the interests of Tennesseans first during this difficult moment," Lee said.
Pike, who was sentenced to death in 1996 for the torture and murder of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer, survived two doses of pentobarbital on Wednesday and remained alive after the procedure that was supposed to end her life. She was rushed to a Nashville hospital, where she was unconscious, intubated and on a ventilator as of Thursday night while doctors tried to clear the lethal drugs from her system. Her lawyers said she could be heard "crying, whimpering, and breathing loudly" throughout the attempted execution.
"A Systemic Failure"
Pike's attorneys welcomed Strada's resignation but said it changed little for their client. "What happened to her Wednesday reflects a systemic failure that goes far beyond any one person," the legal team wrote in a statement. "We hope the Governor's call for a full, independent review will expose the profound problems within Tennessee's entire death penalty system."
"What happened to her Wednesday reflects a systemic failure that goes far beyond any one person."
Attorneys for Christa Pike
The state's Department of Correction, whose execution protocols are published through the Tennessee Department of Correction, has defended the method used Wednesday, saying its "protocol does not allow for additional procedures beyond what was carried out." Authorities have not said whether they will attempt to execute Pike again or offered an explanation for what went wrong. Her lawyers filed an emergency motion Friday seeking to preserve "any and all evidence" related to the failed procedure.
Pike's attorneys had warned before Wednesday that her medical history — including a blood-clotting condition and small veins — created a risk of "unnecessary" pain and suffering during lethal injection. The execution proceeded after multiple last-minute legal challenges failed, including two separate appeals the US Supreme Court declined to hear. Lee also denied a clemency request from Pike, the only woman on Tennessee's death row, who was 18 when she and her then-boyfriend killed Slemmer in a case that drew intense media attention in Knoxville in 1995.
Lee has not named a timeline for the independent review or said when, or whether, executions will resume in Tennessee once it concludes.
