Tennessee’s prison system chief, Frank Strada, resigned following the scandal surrounding the botched execution of Christa Pike. Meanwhile, the family of Colleen Slemmer, whom she murdered, sharply criticized the state authorities over the failed procedure, U.S. media report, writes UNN.
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Tennessee Governor Bill Lee announced Strada’s resignation. The decision came amid an investigation into the circumstances of Pike’s execution, after she survived the administration of two lethal doses of pentobarbital.
The governor has already ordered an independent review and suspended executions in the state until the end of the year.
"You screwed up"
The family of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer, for whose murder Pike was sentenced to death, reacted particularly strongly to the incident.
The victim’s mother, Mae Martinez, said she was present during the procedure and saw that Pike continued to move after the drug was administered. She accused the authorities of failing to properly carry out the sentence.
You screwed up!
The execution that did not end
According to her, the family had waited decades for the sentence to be carried out, but after the botched procedure, she did not feel that her daughter had received justice. The family is also demanding an apology from the state authorities.
Pike was sentenced to death for the brutal murder of Slemmer in 1995. On October 1, she was supposed to become the first woman executed in Tennessee in more than 200 years, but she survived the lethal injection and is currently in critical condition.