Latest news with #lethalinjection
Daily Telegraph
16 hours ago
- Daily Telegraph
‘Hurting so bad': Tennessee death row inmate cries out in pain during lethal injection
Don't miss out on the headlines from News. Followed categories will be added to My News. A Tennessee death row inmate cried out in pain after authorities refused to deactivate his implanted defibrillator as he was executed for murdering his girlfriend and her two young daughters. Byron Black, 69, was pronounced dead at 10.43am on Tuesday local time, about 10 minutes after receiving a lethal injection at the Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville, according to state correctional officials and as reported by The New York Post. The convicted murderer was put to death despite a legal battle over concerns his heart device would repeatedly shock him once the lethal chemicals spread throughout his body. Get all the latest news happening around the world as it happens — download the app direct to your phone. Byron Black was executed on Tuesday morning local time at the Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville, Tennessee. Picture: Tennessee Department of Corrections via AP 'Oh, it's hurting so bad,' Black reportedly said as he lay with his hands and chest restrained. Black – who was sentenced to death for the fatal 1988 shootings of Angela Clay, 29, and her two daughters Latoya, 9, and Lakeisha, 6 – had no final words before he was strapped to a gurney and given a single dose of barbiturate pentobarbital. His spiritual adviser, who was singing and praying over Black during the execution, told him: 'I'm sorry. Just listen to my voice.' Black's lawyer said a review of the defibrillator will be conducted as part of an autopsy. 'The fact that was he able to raise his head several times and express pain tells you that the pentobarbital was not acting the way that state's experts claim it acts,' Kelley Henry said, adding her client was wheelchair-bound and also suffering from dementia, brain damage, kidney failure, congestive heart failure and other 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.' Angela Clay was murdered in her Nashville home by Black, along with her two daughters. Picture: Supplied Ms Henry had earlier unsuccessfully argued that Black shouldn't be put to death due to his apparent intellectual disability. A trial judge ruled last month that officials must deactivate Black's cardioverter-defibrillator – a small, battery-powered electronic instrument implanted in his chest – to prevent unnecessary pain and avoid prolonging the execution. Ms Henry said the device could be disabled with a handheld machine. But Tennessee's Supreme Court overturned that decision last Thursday, ruling that the lower-court judge lacked the authority to issue that order. Tennessee Governor Bill Lee also announced this week he would not show Black any leniency. Family members of the victims said they 'can't say (we're) sorry because we never got an apology'. Picture: AP Photo/Mark Humphrey Prosecutors said Black was in a jealous rage when he shot his three victims at their house. He committed the murders when he was on work-release while serving time for shooting and wounding Ms Clay's estranged husband. 'His family is now going through the same thing we went through 37 years ago,' Ms Clay's sister, Linette Bell, said in a statement that was read after Black was pronounced dead. 'I can't say I'm sorry because we never got an apology.' 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 also becomes the 28th person executed in the US this year – the highest annual total since 2015. This article originally appeared on The New York Post and was reproduced with permission Originally published as 'Hurting so bad': Tennessee death row inmate cries out in pain during lethal injection
News.com.au
17 hours ago
- News.com.au
‘Hurting so bad': Tennessee death row inmate cries out in pain during lethal injection
A Tennessee death row inmate cried out in pain after authorities refused to deactivate his implanted defibrillator as he was executed for murdering his girlfriend and her two young daughters. Byron Black, 69, was pronounced dead at 10.43am on Tuesday local time, about 10 minutes after receiving a lethal injection at the Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville, according to state correctional officials and as reported by The New York Post. The convicted murderer was put to death despite a legal battle over concerns his heart device would repeatedly shock him once the lethal chemicals spread throughout his body. 'Oh, it's hurting so bad,' Black reportedly said as he lay with his hands and chest restrained. Black – who was sentenced to death for the fatal 1988 shootings of Angela Clay, 29, and her two daughters Latoya, 9, and Lakeisha, 6 – had no final words before he was strapped to a gurney and given a single dose of barbiturate pentobarbital. His spiritual adviser, who was singing and praying over Black during the execution, told him: 'I'm sorry. Just listen to my voice.' Black's lawyer said a review of the defibrillator will be conducted as part of an autopsy. 'The fact that was he able to raise his head several times and express pain tells you that the pentobarbital was not acting the way that state's experts claim it acts,' Kelley Henry said, adding her client was wheelchair-bound and also suffering from dementia, brain damage, kidney failure, congestive heart failure and other 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.' Ms Henry had earlier unsuccessfully argued that Black shouldn't be put to death due to his apparent intellectual disability. A trial judge ruled last month that officials must deactivate Black's cardioverter-defibrillator – a small, battery-powered electronic instrument implanted in his chest – to prevent unnecessary pain and avoid prolonging the execution. Ms Henry said the device could be disabled with a handheld machine. But Tennessee's Supreme Court overturned that decision last Thursday, ruling that the lower-court judge lacked the authority to issue that order. Tennessee Governor Bill Lee also announced this week he would not show Black any leniency. Prosecutors said Black was in a jealous rage when he shot his three victims at their house. He committed the murders when he was on work-release while serving time for shooting and wounding Ms Clay's estranged husband. 'His family is now going through the same thing we went through 37 years ago,' Ms Clay's sister, Linette Bell, said in a statement that was read after Black was pronounced dead. 'I can't say I'm sorry because we never got an apology.' 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 also becomes the 28th person executed in the US this year – the highest annual total since 2015.
CTV News
a day ago
- CTV News
Tennessee man noted intense pain during lethal injection without deactivating defibrillator
This undated booking photo provided by the Tennessee Department of Corrections shows Byron Black. (Tennessee Department of Corrections via AP, File) NASHVILLE, Tenn. — A man convicted of killing his girlfriend and her two young daughters in the 1980s said he was 'hurting so bad' while he was given a lethal injection Tuesday in Tennessee, where authorities had refused to deactivate his implanted defibrillator despite claims it might cause unnecessary, painful shocks as the drugs were administered. Black's attorney said they will review data kept by the device as part of an autopsy. Black died at 10:43 a.m., prison officials said. It was about 10 minutes after the execution started and Black talked about being in pain. Asked for any last words, he replied, 'No sir.' Black looked around the room as the execution started, lifting his head off the gurney multiple times, and could be heard sighing and breathing heavily. All seven media witnesses to the execution agreed he appeared to be in discomfort. Throughout the execution, a spiritual adviser prayed and sang over Black, at one point touching his face. 'Oh, it's hurting so bad,' Black said, as he lay with his hands and chest restrained to the gurney, a sheet covering up past his lower half, and an IV line in his arm. 'I'm so sorry. Just listen to my voice,' the adviser responded. Black was executed after a back-and-forth in court over whether officials would need to turn off his implantable cardioverter-defibrillator, or ICD. Black, 69, was in a wheelchair, suffering from dementia, brain damage, kidney failure, congestive heart failure and other conditions, his attorneys have said. The nonprofit Death Penalty Information Center said it's unaware of any other cases with similar claims to Black's about ICDs or pacemakers. Black's attorneys said they haven't found a comparable case, either. Black killed his girlfriend and her 2 daughters Black was convicted in the 1988 shooting deaths of his girlfriend Angela Clay, 29, and her two daughters, Latoya Clay, 9, and Lakeisha Clay, 6. Prosecutors said he was in a jealous rage when he shot the three at their home. At the time, Black was on work-release while serving time for shooting Clay's estranged husband. Clay's sister said Black will now face a higher power. '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,' Linette Bell, Angela Clay's sister, said in a statement read by a victim's advocate after the execution. Black's lawyer said the execution was shameful. '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,' attorney Kelley Henry said. The legal fight over Black's defibrillator In mid-July, a trial court judge agreed with Black's attorneys that officials must have the defibrillator deactivated to avert the risk that it could cause unnecessary pain and prolong the execution. But Tennessee's Supreme Court overturned that decision Thursday, saying the other judge lacked authority to order the change. The state disputed that the lethal injection would cause Black's defibrillator to shock him and said he wouldn't feel them regardless. Henry said Black's defence team will carefully review autopsy results, EKG data from Black and information from the defibrillator to determine what exactly happened during the execution. The lethal injection protocol is still being challenged in court. She said she was especially concerned about his head movement and complaints of pain because the massive dose of pentobarbital used to kill inmates is supposed to rapidly leave them unconscious. 'The fact that he was able to raise his head several times and express pain tells you that the pentobarbital was not acting the way the state's experts claim it acts,' Henry said. Prison officials did not comment on witnesses and Black's attorney saying he appeared conscious or his complaints of pain. It was Tennessee's second execution since May, after a pause for five years, first because of COVID-19 and then because of missteps by state corrections officials. Twenty-eight men have died by court-ordered execution so far this year in the U.S., and nine other people are scheduled to be put to death in seven states during the remainder of 2025. The number of executions this year exceeds the 25 carried out last year and in 2018. It is the highest total since 2015, when 28 people were put to death. Black's condition Black had an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator, which is a small, battery-powered electronic device that is surgically implanted in the chest. It served as a pacemaker and an emergency defibrillator. Black's attorneys have said a doctor can send it a deactivation command without surgery. The legal case also spurred a reminder that most medical professionals consider participation in executions a violation of health-care ethics. Intellectual disability claim In recent years, Black's legal team has unsuccessfully tried to get a new hearing about an intellectual disability they say he's exhibited since childhood. People with intellectual disabilities are constitutionally barred from execution. His attorneys have said that if they had delayed a prior attempt to seek his intellectual disability claim, he would have been spared under a 2021 state law. That is because the 2021 law denies a hearing to people on death row who have already filed a similar request and a court has ruled on it 'on the merits.' A judge denied Nashville District Attorney Glenn Funk's attempt to get Black a new hearing. Funk focused on input from an expert for the state in 2004 who determined back then that Black didn't meet the criteria for what was then called 'mental retardation.' But she concluded that Black met the new law's criteria for a diagnosis of intellectual disability. ___ By Jonathan Mattise Jeffrey Collins in Columbia, South Carolina, contributed to this story.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Yahoo
Death Row Inmate with Heart Device Cries Out During Execution — His Lawyers Say It May Have Shocked Him as He Died
Byron Black, 69, was executed Tuesday despite warnings that his defibrillator could cause pain. Witnesses say he cried out, 'It's hurting so bad.'NEED TO KNOW Byron Black, sentenced to death in the killings of his girlfriend Angela Clay and her two children under 10, was executed Tuesday in Tennessee at age 69 His heart device remained active despite legal challenges Witnesses say he cried out in pain during lethal injection and said "It's hurting so bad"A 69-year-old Tennessee inmate was executed by lethal injection Tuesday morning — despite warnings from doctors and advocates that his heart device could repeatedly shock him during the Black, who was convicted of the 1988 murders of his girlfriend Angela Clay and her two young daughters, ages 6 and 9, was pronounced dead at 10:43 a.m. local time at the Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville, per the Associated Press. He had no last words. According to multiple witness accounts, Black groaned, gasped and appeared to be in visible distress during the execution. At one point, he reportedly cried out, 'It's hurting so bad,' per the weeks leading up to the execution, Black's attorneys fought to have his implantable cardioverter defibrillator — a medical device meant to shock the heart when its rhythm becomes irregular — deactivated, per The Washington Post. They argued the device could override the effects of the lethal injection drugs and trigger repeated, painful shocks as he died. "I interpret that my client was tortured today," Black's attorney, Kelley Henry, told NBC News. Before the execution, a lower court agreed and ordered the device shut off, according to the AP, but Tennessee's Supreme Court overturned the decision, ruling the judge lacked authority to intervene. Meanwhile, Nashville General Hospital — where Black's device had been implanted — stated it never agreed to deactivate it and declined to participate, citing ethical concerns, according to The Washington legal team also sought clemency, citing his diagnoses of intellectual disability, heart failure, kidney failure and progressive dementia, the AP reported. He was wheelchair-bound at the time of his death and had spent more than three decades on death row, per the final appeals, per the outlet, were denied by both the U.S. Supreme Court and Tennessee Gov. Bill the execution, Black's attorneys said they plan to request a full autopsy and access to the defibrillator's internal data to determine whether it discharged during the procedure, per the Associated was the second person executed in Tennessee this year, following the resumption of executions after a pause owing to problems with its lethal injection protocols. Legal experts and advocacy groups told The Washington Post that Black's case may be the first documented instance of a U.S. execution proceeding with an active implantable defibrillator still in place. Read the original article on People
BBC News
2 days ago
- BBC News
Byron Black: Tennessee inmate executed despite heart implant concerns
The US state of Tennessee has executed an inmate despite concerns that his heart implant would shock him back to life and cause extreme pain during the lethal Black, 69, convicted of a triple homicide in 1989, was pronounced dead at 10:43 local time (16:43 BST) at the Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville, prison officials US constitution bars cruel punishment, and Black's lawyers had argued that executing him without deactivating the defibrillator would cause a prolonged and painful media witnesses in the room during his execution said Black appeared to groan in pain. At one point, he reportedly said: "It's hurting so bad." It was not immediately clear what might have caused the pain. Black's attorneys have said they will review the data kept by the device as part of the was convicted in 1988 for shooting his 29-year-old girlfriend Angela Clay and her two daughters, Latoya Clay, 9, and Lakeisha Clay, 6. He maintained his innocence, but his appeals were Clay's sister Linette Bell thanked God for this day, saying in a statement that Black "brought this upon himself" and the execution was "a closure for my family, my sister, and her two daughters". "His family is going through the same thing now we went through 37 years ago," she said. "I can't say I'm sorry because we never got an apology. He never apologized and he never admitted it, even on his dying bed, he took it to his grave with him. And he knows he did it." she said in the became the 28th inmate to be executed in the US this year, with at least eight more executions scheduled. Capital punishment is legal in 27 states, as well as on the federal level. He was in a wheelchair and was suffering from several ailments including dementia, brain damage, kidney failure, and congestive heart failure, CBS News, the BBC's US partner, reported citing his also had a cardioverter-defibrillator surgically implanted into his chest, which served as a pacemaker and emergency defibrillator."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," Black's lawyer Kelley Henry mid-July, a trial court judge agreed with Black's lawyers that officials would have to deactivate his defibrillator to avert any unnecessary pain or prolong the execution. But Tennessee's supreme court intervened to say the trial court judge lacked the authority to make the ruling. The state disputed the claim that the injection would cause his defibrillator to shock him, and argued that he would not feel them either way. The US Supreme Court refused to intervene in the case.
