Tennessee Department of Correction Commissioner to resign following failed execution in the US
An investigation has been launched in the state after Christa Pike was administered two doses of drugs without the execution being carried out; scheduled executions have been halted.
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It has been announced that Tennessee Department of Correction Commissioner Frank Strada will step down from his position following a failed execution attempt of death row inmate Christa Pike in the US state of Tennessee.
Tennessee Governor Bill Lee announced in a written statement that Strada will resign at the end of the month. Lee stated that this step would be in the "best interest of the people of Tennessee."
Governor Lee noted that an independent investigation will determine how the execution attempt on Wednesday failed. In his statement, Lee said, "I believe this review is entirely appropriate and necessary, and I look forward to doing everything in my power to get to the bottom of exactly what happened."
Pike was sentenced to death after being found guilty of murdering her classmate Colleen Slemmer in 1995, when she was 18 years old. It was reported that although Pike was administered two doses of drugs for the execution, her heart did not stop, and she was subsequently transferred to a medical facility outside the prison.
Following the incident, all executions planned for the remainder of the year in Tennessee have been halted until the review process is completed. Pike's attorneys announced that their client is unconscious and on a ventilator at the hospital.