Tennessee prisons chief resigning after failed execution of Christa Pike

The prisons chief overseeing Tennessee’s prison system, Frank Strada, is stepping down following the botched execution of death row inmate Christa Pike, Governor Bill Lee announced on Saturday.

Strada, commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Correction, said resigning was “in the best interests” of the state as an independent investigation examines what went wrong during Pike’s execution on Wednesday.

Pike was left unconscious and placed on a ventilator at a hospital following the failed execution, according to her attorneys. In a court filing on Friday, her lawyers said medical staff were continuing efforts to save her life.

They said that, as of late Thursday, doctors were also working to remove the effects of two doses of the drug administered by the state as part of its execution protocol.