Tennessee Prisons Chief Resigning After Failed Execution of Christa Pike
NASHVILLE — Governor Bill Lee announced on October 3 that Department of Correction Commissioner Frank Strada will step down this month, the first major staff shake-up since the stunning failed execution of Christa Pike on the night of September 30.
Pike survived two doses of pentobarbital at the Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville and was transported to a hospital. It was the second failed execution in Tennessee this year — in May, the attempted execution of Tony Carruthers was abandoned after medical staff failed to establish IV access over the course of an hour. Pike, now 50, was 18 when she and her boyfriend tortured and killed classmate Colleen Slemmer, becoming one of the youngest women sent to death row; she would have been the first woman executed by Tennessee in more than two centuries.
Governor Lee ordered a comprehensive third-party review led by former U.S. Attorney Ed Stanton and called off the state's remaining scheduled executions for 2026. Lee called the failure "a tragedy," saying "the people deserve better."
Sources: CNN; WVLT
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：田纳西州议会大厦（纳什维尔）。摄影：Kaldari，公有领域，来源：Wikimedia Commons
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