Exploring the Unusual Execution of Byron Black

On Tuesday, the state of Tennessee executed Byron Black, who was convicted and sentenced to death in 1989 for the murders of his then-girlfriend Angela Clay and her two daughters, nine-year-old Latoya and six-year-old Lakeisha. Black, who was intellectually disabled, had an implanted defibrillator that his attorney argued could cause undue suffering if it attempted to shock his heart as execution drugs took effect. Ultimately, after a series of legal challenges, the execution was allowed to proceed without intervention from either the Tennessee State Supreme Court or Gov. Bill Lee. As he was injected with a lethal dose of the barbiturate pentobarbital on Tuesday morning, Black was observed by media witnesses, including Banner editor Steve Cavendish, to groan, "Oh, it's hurting so bad." Black was pronounced dead at 10:43 a.m. Afterward, attorney Kelley Henry said her client had been "tortured." A statement from the victims' family read, in part, "I thank God for this day, a day that was a long time coming." While initial data indicated that the defibrillator did not activate during the execution, an autopsy will take 8-12 weeks; in the meantime, Henry said in an emailed statement, "Make no mistake, we all saw with our own eyes that the pentobarbital did not work like the State's expert testified that it would. Mr. Black suffered." Guests: Steve Cavendish, editor-in-chief, official media witness; Steven Hale, criminal justice reporter and author of Death Row Welcomes You Host: Demetria Kalodimos Producers: Lilly Sabella and Steve Haruch Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices