Death row inmate Christa Pike remains unconscious and on a ventilator after surviving a lethal injection
Tennessee’s prisons chief will step down following a failed attempt to execute death row inmate Christa Pike, Governor Bill Lee said on Saturday.
Pike, who was sentenced to death in 1996 for the 1995 torture and murder of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer, remains unconscious and on a ventilator after surviving a failed lethal injection with two doses of pentobarbital on September 30, according to her lawyers.
Lee announced the resignation of Tennessee Department of Correction Commissioner Frank Strada after ordering an independent review of the botched execution.
“Commissioner Strada has served with integrity, and I appreciate his willingness to put the interests of Tennesseans first during this difficult moment,” Lee said in a statement.
“I believe this review is entirely appropriate and necessary, and I look forward to doing everything I can to help determine exactly what occurred,” Strada added.
The New York Times, citing outside medical experts, said Pike had probably survived the procedure because the lethal drug leaked into tissue around the insertion sites instead of entering her bloodstream.
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