Tennessee pauses executions after Christa Pike attempt fails
Governor Bill Lee says prison commissioner Frank Strada will leave this month as the state reviews the failed lethal-injection execution.
Tennessee Governor Bill Lee has halted executions through the end of the year while the state reviews the failed lethal-injection attempt against Christa Pike. Lee also said Department of Correction Commissioner Frank Strada would leave his post this month.
Pike survived two injections during Wednesday’s execution attempt. Her lawyers say she is unconscious, on a ventilator and in critical condition.
Strada said he continues to believe the department carried out its responsibilities according to established protocol. Lee thanked him for putting Tennesseans’ interests first during a difficult moment.
The attempt was Tennessee’s second failed execution this year. In May, an execution was halted after medical staff could not access a prisoner’s vein.
Pike was convicted of murdering Colleen Slemmer in 1995. The state has not specified the scope of the review.
