The Brief
Byron Black noted intense pain during his lethal injection death earlier this week in Tennessee.
He was executed after a back-and-forth in court over whether officials would need to disable his defibrillator due to claims it might cause unnecessary, painful shocks.
His attorney said his defibrillator did not shock him during the execution after concerns over his physical state in his final moments before death.
A Tennessee death row inmate who had a working defibrillator in his chest was executed by lethal injection earlier this week.
His attorney said Friday that his implanted defibrillator did not shock him during the execution after concerns over his physical state in the final moments before his death.
Byron Black execution in Tennessee
The backstory
Byron Black, 69, was executed after a back-and-forth in court over whether officials would need to disable his implantable cardioverter defibrillator due to claims it might cause unnecessary, painful shocks to try to fix his heartbeat as the drugs were administered, potentially prolonging the execution.
This week
Black was executed on Tuesday, Aug. 5, and the process stirred questions about his condition in the final moments before his death.
Black said he was "hurting so bad" while he was given the lethal injection, and at one point picked his head up off the gurney and groaned.
All seven media witnesses to the execution agreed he appeared to be in discomfort.
READ MORE: Tennessee executes death row inmate without deactivating his heart device
What they're saying
Kelley Henry, the federal public defender for Byron Black, said her team received an initial evaluation of the data from his implantable cardioverter defibrillator.
The ICD information eliminates one possible cause for Black's comment about pain during his execution Tuesday, and other actions such as when he picked his head up off the gurney and groaned, she said. But many questions remain unanswered, she said.
"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," Henry said in her statement, referencing Tennessee's execution drug, pentobarbital. "Mr. Black suffered."
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What's next
An autopsy report is expected to be released in eight to 12 weeks, Henry said. She also said their team will be making public records requests to try to piece together what happened. She has said this includes access to Black's electrocardiograph readings from the execution.
Byron Black conviction
The backstory
Byron 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 told the Associated Press that Black was in a jealous rage when he shot the three at their home. During that time, Black was on work-release while serving time for shooting Clay’s estranged husband.
The Source
Information in this article was taken from comments given by Kelly Henry, Black’s public defender, as reported by The Associated Press. Background information was taken from The Associated Press. This story was reported from Detroit.
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