Tennessee death row inmate cries out in pain during execution as state refuses to disable defibrillator

A Tennessee death row inmate cried out in pain during his lethal injection after the state refused to deactivate his implanted defibrillator.

Details: Tennessee death row inmate Byron Black executed

Officials at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville pronounced Byron Black, 69, dead at 10:43 a.m., about 10 minutes after he received a single dose of pentobarbital, according to the Tennessee Department of Correction.

“Oh, it’s hurting so bad,” Black moaned, his hands and chest restrained, as the lethal chemicals coursed through his body. His spiritual advisor, who was singing and praying over him, whispered: “I’m so sorry. Just listen to my voice.”

What led to the conviction

Black was convicted in the 1988 triple homicide of his girlfriend, Angela Clay, 29, and her two daughters, Latoya, 9, and Lakeisha, 6. Prosecutors said he fatally shot all three in their Nashville apartment in a jealous rage. He committed the horrific crime while on work-release for shooting Clay’s estranged husband. The crime rocked the community and led to his death sentence.

Family handout

Clay’s sister, Linette Bell, issued a statement after the execution. “His family is now going through the same thing we went through 37 years ago. I can’t say I’m sorry because we never got an apology.”

Defibrillator controversy

In the weeks leading up to the execution, Black’s attorneys pleaded with the state to disable his cardioverter-defibrillator. A small, battery-powered device implanted in his chest to regulate heart rhythm, attorneys warned it could repeatedly shock him as the drugs took effect.

A trial judge issued an order last month to deactivate the device. The goal was to prevent unnecessary pain and prolonged execution. Attorney Kelley Henry said a handheld machine could disable the defibrillator.

But the Tennessee Supreme Court overturned that ruling, stating the lower court lacked authority to issue the order. Gov. Bill Lee also declined to grant clemency.

Black, who was a wheelchair user, suffered from dementia, brain damage, kidney failure, congestive heart failure, and other serious conditions. “Today, the state of Tennessee killed a gentle, kind, fragile, intellectually disabled man in a violation of the laws of our country simply because they could,” Henry said.

The medical examiner will review the defibrillator as part of Black’s autopsy.

Black’s execution was the second carried out in Tennessee since May, ending a five-year hiatus in the state’s use of capital punishment. He becomes the 28th person executed in the U.S. this year the highest annual total since 2015.