Tennessee Governor Bill Lee appointed Ed Stanton, a former US attorney for the Western District of Tennessee from 2010 to 2017, to lead an independent review of the execution attempt of death row inmate Christa Pike. This decision follows the resignation of the state’s prison chief on Saturday. Stanton's review will assess whether the Tennessee Department of Correction adhered to established protocols during Pike's execution attempt, as announced by the governor’s office.
Stanton previously conducted an independent investigation into Tennessee's lethal injection protocol in 2022, which revealed that drugs used in prior executions were not being tested properly. This led Governor Lee to suspend all executions in Tennessee for the remainder of 2022, including that of death row inmate Oscar Smith, and for nearly three years thereafter.
As a result of Stanton’s earlier review, Tennessee officials revised the execution protocol, which was implemented in February 2025. The new protocol utilizes a single dose of pentobarbital, the same drug administered to Pike during her execution attempt, instead of a three-drug cocktail that included a paralytic agent.
Frank Strada, the former Tennessee DOC Commissioner who resigned on the same day as the announcement, stated that he believes the Department acted in accordance with established protocols but welcomed the independent review as necessary. He expressed his willingness to assist in determining what occurred during the execution attempt.
Stanton's review will also evaluate if further recommendations are needed to ensure the protocol remains lawful and effective. Following the announcement of the single-use lethal injection protocol in December 2024, a group of Tennessee death row inmates filed a lawsuit against the state, arguing that the protocol violated constitutional rights. Additionally, anti-death penalty advocates raised concerns about the new protocol, noting that the federal government no longer uses a single dose of pentobarbital due to uncertainties regarding potential pain and suffering.
Pike, convicted of murdering a teenage classmate in 1995, is currently alive but unconscious, intubated, and on a ventilator, according to her legal representatives. The recent announcement follows a previous botched execution attempt earlier this year involving convicted murderer Tony Carruthers, whose execution was halted when prison officials were unable to establish a backup IV as required by protocol.