Death row

Tennessee prison chief resigns after second failed execution this year

Department of Correction commissioner Frank Strada said that although he believes his agency followed proper execution protocol, "stepping aside is in the best interest of Tennesseans."

|ByREUTERS
A picture taken on December 4, 2007 shows death row inmate Christa Pike entering a Knox County Criminal Court in Knoxville, Tennessee, US., obtained by Reuters on September 30, 2026.
Christa Gail Pike, 36, the only woman on Tennessee's Death Row, is pictured in this 2007 Tennessee Department of Correction booking photograph obtained by Reuters March 22, 2012.

Tennessee fails to execute Christa Pike after two lethal injection attempts

Notably, this is the second failed execution attempt in the state of Tennessee in 2026. Pike, 50, was set to be executed for the 1995 murder of her classmate, Colleen Slemmer.

|ByREUTERS
Christa Gail Pike, 36, the only woman on Tennessee's Death Row, is pictured in this 2007 Tennessee Department of Correction booking photograph obtained by Reuters March 22, 2012.

Christa Pike set to be first Tennessee woman executed in 200 years, lawyers ask Gov. Lee for mercy

Pike's lawyers have since uncovered documented proof of her childhood sexual and physical abuse. She was reportedly raped several times as a toddler and throughout her teenage years.

|ByCORINNE BAUM
Duane Davis, center, and his attorney Michael Sanft are led back to a courtroom to hear his sentencing date after a jury found Davis guilty of first-degree murder in his trial related to the 1996 killing of rapper Tupac Shakur, at Clark County District Court Regional Justice Center, Monday, Aug. 31,

Jury finds ex-gang leader guilty of murder in Tupac case

Davis told the judge "he plans to appeal this matter." Several people in the gallery wiped away tears and hugged a prosecutor as the court adjourned.

|ByREUTERS

Jewish death row inmate appeals to Supreme Court

“Texas made an antisemitic judge the sole arbiter of whether a Jewish defendant facing the death penalty would get a fair trial before a fair tribunal,” said his attorney, Tivon Schardl.

OCTOBER 5, 2019ByJOSEFIN DOLSTEN/JTA
Prison, death row (illustrative)