Tennessee Prison Head Steps Down After Failed Pike Execution
Frank Strada, commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Correction, submitted his resignation and is expected to leave the position later this month, according to reports. Gov. Bill Lee accepted the resignation and said an interim commissioner would be appointed.
Strada said he remained confident that the department had followed its established procedures, but believed leaving his post was appropriate while an independent investigation into the incident takes place.
Pike’s lethal injection execution was stopped Wednesday after prison officials were unable to successfully administer the execution drug on two attempts.
Her attorneys said in a court filing Friday that Pike is in critical condition, unconscious and receiving mechanical ventilation at a hospital in the Nashville area.
The lawyers said intravenous lines were incorrectly positioned, causing the pentobarbital intended for the execution to flow into surrounding tissue instead of entering her bloodstream.
Lee ordered an independent examination of the failed execution and suspended all other executions scheduled by the state through the end of the year.
Pike was sentenced to death for the 1995 murder of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer.
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