The commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Correction, Frank Strada, is resigning from his position following the failed execution of death row inmate Christa Pike on Wednesday. The announcement was made on Saturday through a joint statement issued by Governor Bill Lee and Commissioner Strada. In the statement, Strada characterized his departure as being in the best interests of the state and described the ongoing investigation into the incident as both necessary and entirely appropriate. Governor Lee acknowledged Strada’s service, stating that the commissioner had served with integrity and expressing appreciation for his focus on the interests of Tennesseans during this difficult period.
Christa Pike, who remains the only woman on Tennessee's death row, is currently in critical condition at a hospital in Nashville. According to legal filings, medical professionals are working to clear the lethal drugs from her body. Pike survived two injections of pentobarbital during the attempted execution on Wednesday. Her lawyers reported that throughout the procedure, she could be heard whimpering, crying, and breathing loudly. By Thursday night, she was unconscious, intubated, and placed on a ventilator. Her legal team is currently working to seek a commutation of her death sentence.
In response to the failed procedure, Governor Lee has ordered an independent review of the attempted execution and has implemented a moratorium on all executions in Tennessee for the remainder of the year. The Department of Correction has defended its actions, maintaining that the protocol followed did not allow for any procedures beyond those that were performed. Prior to the execution, Pike’s attorneys had warned that her medical history, which includes small veins and a blood-clotting condition known as thrombocytosis, posed a significant risk of unnecessary pain and suffering.
The execution attempt proceeded despite multiple last-minute legal challenges from Pike’s defense team, including two separate efforts to stop the lethal injection that were rejected by the US Supreme Court. Additionally, Governor Lee had previously denied a clemency request from Pike. She was sentenced to death in 1996 for the 1995 murder of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer. Pike was 18 at the time she and her then-boyfriend, Tadaryl Shipp, beat, tortured, and killed Slemmer in Knoxville, Tennessee, an event that drew significant media attention at the time.
I interviewed Christa Pike 20 years ago – I can't stop thinking about her
I've seen nearly 500 executions – but never one like Christa Pike's
