Tennessee prison system head to resign after failed Christa Pike execution

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee announced that prison system chief Frank Strada plans to resign following the failed execution attempt on Christa Pike earlier this week.

Strada said he believed the department followed its procedures, but would leave while an independent review ordered by Lee proceeds. Pike’s lawyers said the resignation was warranted but would not improve her current condition.

Pike was scheduled to receive a lethal injection Wednesday, but the process failed twice. Her attorneys say she is unconscious, on a ventilator and being treated in a Nashville-area hospital, where staff are working to remove the drug from her body.

Pike’s attorneys have asked a court to require the state corrections department to retain evidence connected to the attempt. The department says it followed the state’s approved execution procedures.

Lee has also canceled Tennessee’s remaining executions scheduled for this year. The independent review is the next step in examining what happened.