Tennessee prison chief who oversaw botched execution of Christa Pike resigns, governor announces

The prison chief who oversaw the botched execution of Christa Pike has resigned, the Tennessee governor announced. Tennessee Department of Correction Commissioner Frank Strada put in his resignation and will step down from the top role later this month, Governor Bill Lee announced in a statement on Saturday. An interim will be appointed later. It comes after Pike, 50, was placed on a ventilator after the state failed to kill her through lethal injection on Wednesday. Pike was injected by at least seven needles as medical staff attempted to give her two lethal doses of pentobarbital, according to the filing. 'At one point, Ms Pike herself offered guidance on where the IV team could attempt access; one needle was bent at a 90-degree angle when it was removed,' the motion stated.Her lawyers stated she was administered two sets of syringes of the lethal drug and could be heard crying, whimpering, and breathing loudly throughout the process.During the procedure, she said: 'My arm feels like it's about to burst open,' and at another point, asked: 'Does this happen like that?'As of Thursday night, she remains critically ill and is being treated at a Nashville-area hospital where she is 'intubated, on a ventilator, and remains unconscious,' her attorneys said.Tennessee Department of Correction Commissioner Frank Strada put in his resignation and will step down from the top role later this month Pike was injected by at least seven needles on Wednesday as medical staff attempted to give her two lethal doses of pentobarbital, but failed to kill her The killer had been on death row for 30 years since she was convicted of the 1995 murder of her Knoxville Jobs Corp classmate Colleen Slemmer.Strada said it was a 'great honor' to serve in his position and that he still 'believes the Department carried out its responsibilities in accordance with the established protocol.' 'Even so, stepping aside is in the best interest of Tennesseans as the independent review moves forward,' he said. 'I believe this review is entirely appropriate and necessary, and I look forward to doing everything I can to help determine exactly what occurred.' The governor said Strada 'served with integrity' and that he 'appreciated his willingness to put the interests of Tennesseans first during this difficult moment.' 'I have accepted his decision to step down and am grateful for his commitment to ensuring a smooth leadership transition. I thank Commissioner Strada for his dedicated service to Tennessee and pray God’s blessings over him in the days ahead,' Lee said in a statement. Strada has worked for the state DOC since 2023. He previously worked for Arizona's DOC, where he oversaw three lethal injections that were later criticized for having problems, The Tennessean said. Pike's team, however, is arguing that the department failed the inmate. Pike is currently on a ventilator in the hospital. Both of her arms were swollen, burned, and blistered when she arrived to the hospital. Pike is pictured in court in 2001 Pike received the death sentence in 1996 and would have been the first woman to be executed in Tennessee in over 200 yearsHer lawyers wrote that upon arrival at the hospital, both of her arms were swollen, burned, and blistered from the drug, which they compared to bleach or Drano, the chemical used to clear clogged household drains and pipes.Pike's attorneys said they believed problems with the IV lines caused the pentobarbital to flow into her body instead of her bloodstream.'Apparently at no point did any member of the execution team realize that the IV lines were not correctly placed or that the veins had blown and that the pentobarbital was, in whole or in part, entering Ms Pike's body,' the lawyers wrote in the court filing.They wrote that instead of 'remedying this failure,' they prepared and administered a backup set of pentobarbital syringes.Her lawyers are seeking to have all of the evidence from her botched execution preserved so they can ensure accountability and protect her legal rights.'We are working closely with those closest to Christa to respect her wishes, safeguard her privacy and protect her rights as a patient during this extraordinarily difficult time,' said Luke Ihnen, attorney for Pike with Federal Defender Services of Eastern Tennessee.'We ask that the public and the media respect that privacy as well.'The court filing emphasized that Pike previously filed an appeal claiming her execution would result in cruel and unusual punishment because of her individual physical characteristics, including thrombocytosis, post-traumatic stress disorder, and small veins. Strada said it was a 'great honor' to serve in his position and that he still 'believes the Department carried out its responsibilities in accordance with the established protocol' The killer (pictured) had been on death row for 30 years since she was convicted of the 1995 murder of her Knoxville Jobs Corp classmate Colleen SlemmerPike received the death sentence in 1996 and would have been the first woman to be executed in Tennessee in over 200 years.Instead, the case marks the second botched execution in Tennessee this year, and Lee halted any additional executions for the year and ordered 'a comprehensive, third-party review to determine exactly what occurred.'The state's execution protocol calls for a secondary set of drug syringes to be administered 'if the inmate is not deceased' after the first set. It does not spell out what happens if the subject is alive after the second set.Tennessee announced in 2024 that it was switching from a three-drug series for lethal injections to the single drug pentobarbital.In 1996, Pike and her boyfriend, Tadaryl Shipp, stabbed and beat Slemmer to death on the University of Tennessee's Agricultural campus.The two carved a pentagram into Slemmer's chest, and Pike took a piece of her skull as a souvenir, according to investigators.Shipp, who was 17 at the time of the killing, was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole due to his age.