UPDATE
Aug 5, 2025 12:16 PM CDT
Tennessee executed an inmate on Tuesday after being allowed to do so without disconnecting his heart defibrillator. Convicted murderer Byron Black, 69, died at 10:43am after receiving a lethal injection, reports the AP. A reporter who witnessed his death said Black groaned in pain and told a spiritual adviser in the room with him, "It's hurting so bad," reports the Tennessean. Black's lawyers had argued that the defibrillator could cause pain by shocking his heart as the organ failed.
Aug 4, 2025 7:30 PM CDT
The US Supreme Court and Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee declined to intervene on Monday, leaving the state free to proceed to execute Byron Black on Tuesday morning without disabling implanted defibrillator. Black's lawyers say the injection could repeatedly shock his heart if the cardioverter-defibrillator is still functioning, the AP reports, causing unnecessary pain and a prolonged execution they contend would violate the US Constitution. The 69-year-old, who killed his girlfriend and her two daughters in 1988, also has dementia and brain damage. Tests found his IQ to be below 70, per the Nashville Banner.
Lee declined Monday to grant a reprieve, saying the courts have "universally determined that it is lawful to carry out the jury's sentence of execution given to Mr. Black for the heinous murders of Angela Clay and her daughters Lakeisha, age 6, and Latoya, age 9." Court filings show state officials indicated they do not have a medical professional available to turn off the implant, per CNN. "I don't want him to suffer. I do not want him tortured," said Kelley Henry, an attorney for Black.