Tennessee Prisons Chief Resigns

Tennessee Department of Correction Commissioner Frank Strada is resigning after the state’s failed execution of Christa Pike. Gov. Bill Lee ordered an independent review and paused Tennessee’s remaining executions for the year while it proceeds. Pike survived two doses of pentobarbital and is unconscious, intubated, and on a ventilator at a Nashville-area hospital. Her lawyers say the IV lines were misplaced or her veins blew, sending the drug into tissue instead of blood. The department says it followed protocol and has not explained the failure. Strada said stepping down serves Tennesseans while the review finds exactly what happened. The review will shape any next step.