Tennessee Prisons Chief Resigns After 2-Dose Christa Pike Execution Failure
Updated
Updated · CNN · Oct 3
Tennessee Prisons Chief Resigns After 2-Dose Christa Pike Execution Failure
3 articles · Updated · CNN · Oct 3
Summary
Frank Strada will step down this month after Tennessee failed to execute Christa Pike on Wednesday despite administering two doses of pentobarbital, Governor Bill Lee said.
Court filings said Pike was hospitalized unconscious and on a ventilator, with staff trying late Thursday to clear the drug from her body and save her life.
Pike’s lawyers blamed mispositioned IV lines and blown veins that may have sent pentobarbital into body tissue instead of her bloodstream; Strada said the state followed protocol.
Lee ordered an independent review and paused future executions, while the failure drew demands for answers from both death-penalty supporters and opponents.