The Brief Frank Strada, Tennessee's head of prisons, will resign following the failed execution of Christa Pike. As of Friday, Pike was still in critical condition after living through two doses of the lethal drug pentobarbital. Pike's attorneys said they believe problems with the IV lines caused the pentobarbital to flow into her body instead of her bloodstream. The man who oversees Tennessee's prison system will step down after Christa Pike's failed execution, the state's governor said Saturday. Frank Strada, commissioner of the Department of Corrections, will resign this month, Gov. Bill Lee announced. Why is Frank Strada resigning? What they're saying: In a statement to The Associated Press, Strada said his resignation is in the best interest of Tennesseans while an independent investigation determines what happened Wednesday when Pike lived through two doses of the lethal drug pentobarbital . Christa Pike (Photo: TN Department of Correction) I believe this review is entirely appropriate and necessary, and I look forward to doing everything I can to help determine exactly what occurred, Strada said. Strada took over the Correction Department in January 2023 after serving as deputy director of the Arizona Department of Corrections . He announced in late 2024 that Tennessee was changing its lethal injection protocol and would only use pentobarbital. Who is Christa Pike? The backstory: Pike was 18 years old when she and her boyfriend tortured and killed a classmate, Colleen Slemmer, in a jealous rage in 1995. Before her failed execution Wednesday, she was set to be the first woman executed in Tennessee in 200 years. A federal appeals court briefly paused the execution Wednesday and said more time was needed to consider her lawyers' last-ditch appeals, but the Supreme Court allowed the execution to proceed after a nine-hour delay. The state's Republican governor declined to intervene and allow Pike to serve a life sentence. Pike's deeply disturbing' failed execution Wh #fox5atlanta #crimewatchatlanta