The head of prisons in the U.S. state of Tennessee, Commissioner Frank Strada, will resign following the failed execution attempt of death row inmate Christa Pike. Governor Bill Lee announced the resignation on Saturday, stating that Strada's departure is in the best interests of the state.

Pike, the only woman on Tennessee's death row, was sentenced to death in 1996 for the 1995 murder of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer. The attempted execution on Wednesday reportedly failed after Pike survived two injections of pentobarbital and was subsequently transported to a hospital in critical condition.

According to legal filings by Pike's attorneys, she was heard crying and whimpering during the procedure. As of Thursday night, she was unconscious, intubated, and on a ventilator. Strada stated that his stepping down is appropriate and called the ongoing investigation into the incident necessary.

Governor Lee has ordered an independent review into the botched execution and has halted all executions in Tennessee for the remainder of the year. The state's Department of Correction defended its protocol, stating it does not allow for additional procedures beyond what was carried out, and authorities have not yet commented on whether they will attempt to execute Pike again.

Pike's legal team called the resignation justified but argued it does not address the systemic failures they believe led to the incident. "What happened to her Wednesday reflects a systemic failure that goes far beyond any one person," Pike's lawyers wrote in a statement. They expressed hope that the governor's review would expose "profound problems within Tennessee's entire death penalty system."

Prior to the execution, Pike's attorneys had warned that her medical history, including a blood-clotting condition and small veins, posed a risk of unnecessary pain and suffering during lethal injection. These warnings were made amidst multiple last-minute legal challenges, including two rejected by the U.S. Supreme Court, and a denied clemency request by Governor Lee.

Pike was 18 when she, along with her then-boyfriend, committed the murder. The case garnered significant media attention at the time, leading to her sentencing the following year. Details regarding the specific cause of the execution's failure remain undisclosed by state officials.

Legal filings indicate that doctors are attempting to clear the execution drugs from Pike's system at the Nashville hospital. Her attorneys filed an emergency motion Friday to preserve all evidence related to the failed execution, emphasizing the need for transparency and accountability.