Tennessee Department of Correction Commissioner Frank Strada has resigned after the failed execution of Christa Pike, leaving the state’s prison system facing a leadership change and another independent examination of its execution procedures.
Gov. Bill Lee announced the departure Saturday morning, Oct. 3, three days after Pike survived two rounds of lethal injection at Nashville’s Riverbend Maximum Security Institution and was rushed to a Nashville hospital. Her attorneys said in a court filing Friday that she was unconscious and on a ventilator.
It was the second time this year that an execution at Riverbend had been halted after the state began trying to carry it out. The incidents have brought renewed scrutiny to Tennessee’s handling of capital punishment, despite an earlier review and a revised lethal injection protocol.
Lee described Strada’s departure as a “leadership transition” and thanked him for his “willingness to put the interests of Tennesseans first during this difficult moment.” The governor added that he would “pray God’s blessings over him in the days ahead.”
In a statement released by the governor’s office, Strada said “stepping aside is in the best interest of Tennesseans as the independent review moves forward.” He called the review Lee announced earlier in the week “entirely appropriate and necessary.”
Pike’s attorneys said the resignation was warranted but insufficient to address what happened Wednesday night.
“The resignation of Commissioner Strada is justified, but it does nothing to help Christa now,” they said in a Saturday statement. “What happened to her Wednesday reflects a systemic failure that goes far beyond any one person. We hope the Governor’s call for a full, independent review will expose the profound problems within Tennessee’s entire death penalty system.”
Pike was sentenced to death in 1996 for her part in the torture and murder of Colleen Slemmer. Both were teenagers when the crime occurred. The case originated in Knoxville, but Tennessee carries out executions at Riverbend in Nashville.
In May, Strada oversaw the aborted execution of Tony Carruthers. The execution team repeatedly punctured different parts of Carruthers’ body while trying to establish intravenous lines. The execution was called off after the team could not successfully obtain IV access.
The two incidents involved different stages of the process: Carruthers’ execution stopped because the team could not establish the lines needed to administer the drugs, while Pike survived two rounds of lethal injection. Both now figure in the crisis surrounding the state’s execution practices.
Tennessee adopted its current protocol in 2025, replacing a three-drug procedure with a single-drug process using pentobarbital. The drug is a barbiturate used in lethal injection protocols in several states. Changing the drug regimen does not eliminate the need for reliable IV access, appropriate drug handling and staff compliance with execution procedures.
Lee’s announcement of a moratorium and independent review marks the second time during his governorship that he has suspended executions and ordered an outside examination of lethal injection practices.
In 2022, Lee halted the scheduled execution of Oscar Franklin Smith after a problem involving required testing of lethal injection drugs came to light. An independent review subsequently identified failures in Tennessee’s adherence to its own protocol, including problems with drug testing and recordkeeping. That history makes the new review a test not only of the current protocol but also of the state’s ability to sustain changes after earlier failures.
Strada came to Tennessee in 2023 after Lee recruited and appointed him commissioner. He previously served as deputy director of the Arizona Department of Corrections. The New York Times reported Friday that he had overseen three “problem-plagued executions” during his Arizona tenure.
Riverbend, which opened in 1989, is in northwest Nashville near the Cumberland River. It houses Tennessee’s male death row prisoners and the state’s execution chamber. Its role makes Nashville the setting for decisions with consequences across Tennessee, including for prisoners, victims’ families, correctional employees and residents concerned about government accountability.
The Department of Correction’s responsibilities extend well beyond executions to operating state prisons and supervising people on probation and parole. The leadership transition therefore affects an agency responsible for both custody and community supervision statewide.
For now, executions are suspended while the independent review moves forward. A moratorium pauses executions; it does not itself overturn convictions or death sentences. Residents can follow official announcements about department leadership and execution policies through the governor’s office at tn.gov/governor and the Department of Correction at tn.gov/correction. The review’s findings and the state’s response will be central to decisions about whether and how executions resume.