Tennessee has halted all lethal injection executions after death row inmate Christa Pike survived her scheduled execution. The head of the state's prison system is set to step down following the failed procedure.
Prison chief resigns amid review
Governor Bill Lee announced that Frank Strada, commissioner of the Department of Correction, will resign this month. In a statement, Strada said resigning was “in the best interest of Tennesseans.”
An independent review is underway to determine what happened after the state failed to execute Pike. Strada 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.”
Failed execution details
Pike, 50, was injected with two lethal doses of pentobarbital on Wednesday but remained alive. She was sentenced to death in 1996 for the murder of Colleen Slemmer. Her lawyers now want her case and sentence commuted.
Pike remains in hospital, unconscious and intubated on a ventilator, as doctors work to save her life and clear the drug from her system. Court papers state that prison officials used an IV line on Pike, attempting access via seven different needle points. At one point, Pike herself offered guidance on where they could try. The filing states: “One needle was bent in a 90-degree angle when it was removed.” Her lawyers say Pike “could be heard crying, whimpering, and breathing loudly throughout the procedure.”
Victim's mother speaks out
Colleen's mother, May, spoke to PEOPLE while driving back to Florida from Tennessee. She said: “If I could have gotten in that room, I would have taken the box cutter and cut her up like she did Colleen.”
May said she has been deprived of over 30 years of memories: “Well, you miss a lot. You miss the holidays, you miss the birthdays, you miss Mother's Days and stuff like that.”
