Tennessee Governor Bill Lee announced on 3/10 that Commissioner Frank Strada had submitted his resignation. Strada will leave his position this month.

Strada, who oversaw the two lethal injections given to death row inmate Christa Pike on the evening of 30/9, maintained the department followed "proper procedures." He stated, "However, I am resigning in the best interest of the people of Tennessee while an independent review is conducted. I believe the review is entirely appropriate and necessary. I want to do everything I can to determine what happened."

Frank Strada, Tennessee Department of Correction Commissioner in Nashville on 11/12/2025. Photo: AP

Governor Lee appointed Strada in 2023 after he served as Deputy Director of the Arizona Department of Corrections. He has 37 years of experience in corrections management and law enforcement, including nearly 30 years with the Federal Bureau of Prisons.

Pike, 50, survived after receiving two doses of pentobarbital. She was rushed for emergency medical care and is currently in a coma, intubated, and on a ventilator.

Pike was 18 when she and her boyfriend tortured and killed a classmate, Colleen Slemmer, in a jealous rage in 1995. She became one of the youngest women in the United States sentenced to death in 1996.

In 2024, Tennessee changed its execution protocol. The state shifted from a three-drug method to a single-drug procedure.

Hong Hanh (According to AP, New York Post)