Tennessee to execute death row inmate Byron Black
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A lethal injection death chamber. Photo: Paul Harris/Getty Images
Tennessee is scheduled to execute death row inmate Byron Black on Tuesday morning despite concerns his heart implant will shock him repeatedly during the lethal injection.
- Black, 69, is one of the longest residents on the state's death row. He was convicted in the 1988 shooting deaths of his girlfriend Angela Clay and her two young daughters, 9-year-old Latoya and 6-year-old Lakeisha.
What they're saying: His legal team argues that a medical device implanted last year to keep his heart beating normally could repeatedly try to shock his heart into rhythm while the lethal injection drug pentobarbital takes effect.
- They have fought to have the device deactivated before the execution to avoid a tortuous death they say would violate the U.S. Constitution.
- A state judge sided with them last month, saying prison officials must deactivate the device before going forward with the execution, but the Tennessee Supreme Court overruled that decision.
Between the lines: The impending execution of Black has also raised ethical questions due to his intellectual disability.
- Testing after his conviction found his IQ lower than 70. If he were tried today, prosecutors agree, he would not be eligible for the death penalty under new state standards.
- Nashville District Attorney Glenn Funk said in 2022 that he should not be put to death under the new standards, but courts rejected a resentencing.
The big picture: Executions are trending upward nationwide. Tennessee scheduled new executions this year after a lengthy hiatus.
Driving the news: Executions were delayed by the pandemic and then by the 2022 revelation that prison officials were not following state rules for lethal injections.
- The Tennessee Department of Correction rewrote the lethal injection protocol. A group of death row inmates is suing, saying the new protocol is opaque and flawed, but courts have allowed executions to move forward while that fight plays out.
Zoom in: Baring any last-minute interventions from the courts or governor, Black is set to be the second Tennessee inmate put to death in 2025. Another inmate is scheduled to die in December.