Tennessee prisons chief to resign after failed execution of Christa Pike, governor says

prisons chief in Tennessee is resigning after the failed execution of Christa Pike

Gov. Bill Lee said that Department of Correction Commissioner Frank Strada will step down this month

The Associated Press

· Posted: Oct 03, 2026 12:20 PM EDT | Last Updated: 13 minutes ago

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The head of Tennessee's prison system is resigning after the failed execution of Christa Pike, Gov. Bill Lee announced Saturday.

Lee said that Department of Correction Commissioner Frank Strada will step down this month.

Strada said in a statement that stepping aside "is in the best interests" of the state as an independent review is carried out to determine why Pike's execution failed Wednesday.

WATCH | Here's what we know about the failed execution of Christa Pike:

What we know about failed execution of Christa Pike

October 1|

Duration

1:22

Christa Pike, the 50-year-old who was convicted of killing a classmate when she was 18, survived two doses of lethal injection drugs after what experts described as a ‘very rare’ and ‘unprecedented’ failed execution in Tennessee on Wednesday. An expert explains what may have happened.

Pike was placed on a ventilator and remained unconscious in a hospital, her attorneys said in a court filing Friday.

Hospital staff, her lawyers said, were working to save Pike's life and, as of late Thursday, were trying to clear the two doses of the drug that the state uses to execute prisoners.

The stunning failure in Tennessee's execution chamber on Wednesday has left both sides of the death penalty debate demanding answers. Lee has ordered an independent review.

• Video

  Tennessee halts executions after Christa Pike survives botched lethal injection

• Christa Pike on ventilator after surviving Tennessee execution attempt, lawyer says

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," they wrote in the court filing.

Pike was 18 when she and her boyfriend tortured and killed a classmate, Colleen Slemmer, in a jealous rage. She later became one of the youngest women to be sent to death row.

WATCH | Tennessee's remaining execution halted amid independent review:

Tennessee governor halts executions after inmate survives lethal injection

October 1|

Duration

3:22

Christa Pike, convicted of murdering a classmate three decades ago, survived Tennessee's effort to execute her by means of lethal injection late Wednesday, prison officials said. Gov. Bill Lee said in a statement that he has ordered 'a comprehensive, third-party review' and that the state's remaining scheduled execution will not take place this year.