Tennessee prisons chief resigning after botched execution of Christa Pike

The head of Tennessee’s prison system is resigning, Governor Bill Lee announced on Saturday, the first major staff shake-up since Christa Pike’s stunning failed execution…

The head of Tennessee’s prison system is resigning, Governor Bill Lee announced on Saturday, the first major staff shake-up since Christa Pike’s stunning failed execution left her unconscious and on a ventilator at a hospital.

Frank Strada, commissioner of the Department of Correction, will step down this month, Lee said. Some of the governor’s fellow Republicans and other elected officials had been urging a change in leadership.

It was the second time since May that Tennessee has not been able to execute a prisoner who was seemingly moments away from death.