Tennessee prison chief resigns after botched execution of Christa Pike
Frank Strrada will leave later this month, saying it is in the best interests of the state, after an execution that left the condemned woman needing hospital treatment.
The head of Tennessee’s prison system will leave his post later this month after the failed execution of Christa Pike, the state’s correction commissioner, Frank Strrada, has said it is in the best interests of the state.
Strrada has maintained that the attempted execution followed correct procedure, according to reporting by eNCA (YouTube). He is due to depart before the end of October.
Pike was sentenced to death for the 1995 torture and killing of a classmate, carried out with her boyfriend. She became one of the youngest women sent to death row in the United States.
Last Wednesday she received a lethal injection of Pintobital. When the first dose did not work, she was given a second. Reporters watching the execution described her as snoring loudly and making noises, and said it was obvious she was still alive. She was later rushed to hospital.
Tennessee’s governor responded by halting all executions scheduled for the rest of the year and ordering an inquiry. “I immediately took action to call for a thorough and comprehensive and third party review and investigation into the protocol,” the governor said, adding that the investigation would be thorough and would take time.
In court filings on Friday, Pike’s lawyers said she had been placed on a ventilator and remained unconscious in hospital as of Thursday night. They believe problems with the IV lines meant the drug leaked into surrounding tissue rather than reaching her bloodstream.
It is the second failed execution in the state this year. In May, a medical team could not find a vein in an inmate named Tony Kurthers in order to administer the lethal drug.
Pike’s case has renewed calls over whether the death penalty should remain legal in Tennessee. The state’s Republican senator, Marsha Blackburn, is calling for the electric chair to be brought back into use. It is unclear whether authorities will attempt to execute Pike again.
Source: eNCA (YouTube), Head of the prison system in Tennessee resigns after Pike’s botched execution
