State Correction Department Leader Resigns After Botched Execution

The head of the Tennessee Department of Correction is stepping down as an investigation is set to begin regarding the state’s execution protocol following two failed lethal injections this year.

TDOC Commissioner Frank Strada will resign this month, according to an announcement from Gov. Bill Lee Saturday morning. Lee will appoint an interim commissioner. Strada’s resignation comes after death row inmate Christa Pike survived two doses of pentobarbital (the state’s lethal injection drug) on Sept. 30. She remains unconscious in critical condition at a Nashville hospital.

In May, the state also mishandled the attempted execution of Tony Carruthers when executioners could not establish a central line. This led the governor to issue a one-year reprieve for Carruthers.

In the hours after the failed lethal injection of Pike Wednesday night, Lee called for an independent review of the state’s execution protocol — which was updated and approved by the attorney general’s office in 2024 — and said the state will postpone the year’s only remaining execution.

Lee appointed Strada to lead the correction department in 2023. Strada previously served as the deputy director of the Arizona Department of Corrections, where he also oversaw multiple botched executions.

Lee ‘Highly Disappointed’ in Botched Execution, Blackburn Calls for Electric Chair

The Tennessee Department of Correction tried and failed twice to kill Christa Pike by lethal injection Wednesday night

“Commissioner Strada has served with integrity, and I appreciate his willingness to put the interests of Tennesseans first during this difficult moment,” Lee says in a statement. “I have accepted his decision to step down and am grateful for his commitment to ensuring a smooth leadership transition. I thank Commissioner Strada for his dedicated service to Tennessee and pray God’s blessings over him in the days ahead.”

Strada says in the statement that he believes the department followed the state’s established execution protocol.

“Even so, stepping aside is in the best interest of Tennesseans as the independent review moves forward,” says Strada. “I believe this review is entirely appropriate and necessary, and I look forward to doing everything I can to help determine exactly what occurred.”

Lee told reporters Thursday is “highly disappointed” in the failed execution of Pike. Meanwhile gubernatorial frontrunner U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn is calling for the Tennessee to reinstate the electric chair as its primary execution method.

Update: On Saturday afternoon, Gov. Lee released an additional statement noting that the state attorney general's office has retained former U.S. Attorney Ed Stanton to conduct an independent review of Pike's failed execution. Previously, Stanton led a 2022 investigation into the state's lethal injection protocol that uncovered a pattern of negligence in the process.