{"id":2471198,"date":"2025-08-05T16:51:53","date_gmt":"2025-08-05T20:51:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/tennessee-carries-out-first-of-its-kind-execution-on-triple-murderer-after-supreme-court-intervenes\/"},"modified":"2025-08-05T16:54:52","modified_gmt":"2025-08-05T20:54:52","slug":"tennessee-carries-out-first-of-its-kind-execution-on-triple-murderer-after-supreme-court-intervenes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/tennessee-carries-out-first-of-its-kind-execution-on-triple-murderer-after-supreme-court-intervenes\/","title":{"rendered":"Tennessee Carries Out First-of-Its-Kind Execution on Triple Murderer After Supreme Court Intervenes"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">24<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Ftennessee-carries-out-first-of-its-kind-execution-on-triple-murderer-after-supreme-court-intervenes%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2471198&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Byron Black, a 69-year-old inmate in Tennessee with multiple serious health issues including dementia and heart failure, was executed by lethal injection despite having an <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >active <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/doctor-family-speak-out-after-healthy-teen-suffers-cardiac-arrest-on-tennis-court\/\" title=\"Doctor, Family Speak Out After Healthy Teen Suffers Cardiac Arrest On Tennis ...\">implantable cardioverter-defibrillator<\/a><\/a> (ICD) in his chest that was not deactivated. There was legal controversy over whether the ICD should have been turned off to prevent it from shocking his heart during the execution, which could cause needless pain. A lower court had ordered the device&#8217;s deactivation, but the Tennessee Supreme Court overturned that decision. Witnesses reported Black expressed pain during the procedure. Black was convicted for the 1988 shooting deaths of his girlfriend and her two children and had made multiple legal appeals, including claims of intellectual disability. The case raised ethical and medical concerns about the involvement of health professionals in executions and the possible suffering caused by ICDs during lethal injections.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<section> \t\t\t\t<script>console.log(\"ad slot (AC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC2)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC3)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC4)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (REP_0)\")<\/script><\/p>\n<p>Tennessee executed an inmate Tuesday without deactivating his implanted defibrillator, despite uncertainty about whether the device would shock his heart when the lethal chemicals took effect.<\/p>\n<p>Byron Black died at 10:43 a.m., prison officials said. Shortly after the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/witness-whose-testimony-put-man-death-row-makes-bombshell-admission-days-lethal-injection\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">lethal injection<\/a> started, witnesses said Black told a spiritual advisor in the room that he was hurting so badly.<\/p>\n<p>Black looked around the room as the execution started and could be heard sighing and breathing heavily.<\/p>\n<p>Black was executed after a back-and-forth in court over whether officials would need to turn off his implantable cardioverter-defibrillator, or ICD.<\/p>\n<p>Black, 69, was in a wheelchair, suffering from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/ap-utah-judge-rules-convicted-killer-dementia-competent-executed\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">dementia<\/a>, brain damage, kidney failure, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/food-and-drug-administration-guidance-drives-racial-rationing-of-covid-drugs\/\" title=\"Food and Drug Administration Guidance Drives Racial Rationing of COVID Drugs\">congestive heart failure<\/a>, and other conditions, his attorneys have said.<\/p>\n<p> <script type=\"text\/javascript\"> \t\t\tif ( getCookie( \"ff_subbed\" ) ) { \t\t\t\tdocument.getElementById(\"stnvideo\").remove() \t\t\t} else { \t\t\t\tdocument.addEventListener(\"DOMContentLoaded\", function() { \t\t\t\t\tfunction loadScript(src) { \t\t\t\t\t\tconst script=document.createElement(\"script\"); \t\t\t\t\t\tscript.src=src; \t\t\t\t\t\tscript.async=true; \t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.body.appendChild(script); \t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\tfunction findPreviousParagraph(selector, x) { \t\t\t\t\t\tconst targetElement=document.querySelector(selector); \t\t\t\t\t\tif (!targetElement) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.warn(\"Target element not found.\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\treturn null; \t\t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Get all <\/p>\n<p> elements in order as they appear in the document \t\t\t\t\t\tlet paragraphs=Array.from(document.querySelectorAll(\"p\"));  \t\t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Find the index of the last <\/p>\n<p> before the target element \t\t\t\t\t\tlet targetIndex=paragraphs.findIndex(p=> p.compareDocumentPosition(targetElement) & Node.DOCUMENT_POSITION_PRECEDING);  \t\t\t\t\t\tif (targetIndex===-1 || targetIndex <x) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.warn(\"Not enough paragraphs before the target element.\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\treturn null; \t\t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\treturn paragraphs[targetIndex - x]; \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Set up IntersectionObserver \t\t\t\t\tfunction observeElement(element) { \t\t\t\t\t\tif (!element) return;  \t\t\t\t\t\tconst observer=new IntersectionObserver( \t\t\t\t\t\t\t(entries)=> { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tentries.forEach(entry=> { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tif (entry.isIntersecting) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.log(\"Paragraph is now visible:\", entry.target.textContent.trim()); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tloadScript(\"https:\/\/embed.sendtonews.com\/player3\/embedcode.js?fk=s28Az7AY\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tobserver.disconnect(); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t}, \t\t\t\t\t\t\t{ threshold: 0.5 } \/\/ Adjust threshold as needed \t\t\t\t\t\t);  \t\t\t\t\t\tobserver.observe(element); \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Find the 1st paragraph before #stnvideo and observe it \t\t\t\t\tlet paragraphToObserve=findPreviousParagraph(\"#stnvideo\", 2); \t\t\t\t\tobserveElement(paragraphToObserve); \t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t} \t\t<\/script> <\/p>\n<p>The nonprofit Death Penalty Information Center said it&rsquo;s unaware of any other cases in which an inmate was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/politifact-retracts-pants-on-fire-fact-check-on-lab-leak\/\" title=\"PolitiFact Retracts &#039;Pants on Fire&#039; Fact Check on Lab Leak\">making similar claims<\/a> to Black&rsquo;s about ICDs or pacemakers. Black&rsquo;s attorneys said they haven&rsquo;t found a comparable case, either.<\/p>\n<p>In mid-July, a trial court judge agreed with Black&rsquo;s attorneys that officials must have the device deactivated to avert the risk that it could cause unnecessary pain and prolong the execution. But the state Supreme Court intervened Thursday to overturn that decision, saying the other judge lacked authority to order the change.<\/p>\n<p>The state disputed that the lethal injection would cause Black&rsquo;s defibrillator to shock him and said he wouldn&rsquo;t feel the shocks regardless.<\/p>\n<p>On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected Black&rsquo;s final appeal, and Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee declined to stop the execution.<\/p>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<p>At the time, Black was on work release while serving time for shooting Clay&rsquo;s estranged husband.<\/p>\n<p>It was Tennessee&rsquo;s second <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/convicted-cop-killer-suffers-excruciating-conscious-pain-botched-firing-squad-execution\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">execution<\/a> since May after a pause of five years, first because of COVID-19 and then because of missteps by state corrections officials.<\/p>\n<p>Twenty-eight men have died by court-ordered execution so far this year in the U.S., and eight 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.<\/p>\n<p>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&rsquo;s attorneys said that to ensure it was off, a doctor must place a programming device over the implant site, sending it a deactivation command, with no surgery required.<\/p>\n<p>Black&rsquo;s attorneys countered that even if the lethal drug being used, pentobarbital, renders someone unresponsive, they aren&rsquo;t necessarily unaware or unable to feel pain.<\/p>\n<p>The legal case also spurred a reminder that most medical professionals consider participation in executions a violation of health care <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/stacey-abrams-makes-history-largest-ever-election-ethics-fine-kind-imposed-activist-groups-founded\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">ethics<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>In recent years, Black&rsquo;s legal team has unsuccessfully tried to get a new hearing over whether he was intellectually disabled and ineligible for the death penalty under U.S. Supreme Court precedent.<\/p>\n<p>His attorneys have said that if they had delayed a prior attempt to seek his <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/dei-run-amok-faa-hiring-people-severe-intellectual-psychiatric-disability-disaster-making\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">intellectual disability<\/a> claim, he would have been spared under a 2021 state law.<\/p>\n<p>Nashville District Attorney Glenn Funk contended in 2022 that Black was intellectually disabled and deserved a hearing under that 2021 law, but the judge denied it. 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 &ldquo;on the merits.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>In Funk&rsquo;s attempt, he focused on input from an expert for the state in 2004 who determined back then that Black didn&rsquo;t meet the criteria for what was then called &ldquo;mental retardation.&rdquo; But she concluded that Black met the new law&rsquo;s criteria for a diagnosis of intellectual disability.<\/p>\n<p>Black also sought a determination by the courts that he was incompetent to be executed.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-style: italic;\">The Western Journal has reviewed this Associated Press story and may have altered it prior to publication to ensure that it meets our editorial standards.<\/p>\n<div style=\"position: relative;\">\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<div class=\"entry-submit-correction inner-content\">\n<div class=\"correction-form\">\n<form style=\"display: none;\">\n<div class=\"sc-name-field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* Name<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"name\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"sc--field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* <\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<label>* Message<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t<textarea name=\"message\" required><\/textarea> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"required-message\" style=\"display: none; padding-bottom: 15px;\">* All fields are required.<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"submit\" value=\"Submit\" onclick=\"event.preventDefault(); firefly_sc();\"> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"firefly-sc-confirm\" style=\"display: none;\">Success!<\/div>\n<\/p><\/form>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p> \t\t<script> \t\t\tfunction firefly_sc() { \t\t\t\tif( typeof window.captchaPublicKey==typeof undefined ){ \t\t\t\t\tconsole.error('window.captchaPublicKey is not defined'); \t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\tgrecaptcha.execute( window.captchaPublicKey, { action: 'submit_correction' } ).then( function( token ) { \t\t\t\t\tvar opts={ \t\t\t\t\t\taction:    'firefly_sc_submit', \t\t\t\t\t\tname:      document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"name\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\t:     document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tmessage:   document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"message\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tpost_id:   firefly_post_id, \t\t\t\t\t\tcap_token: token \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tvar inputs=[ 'name', '', 'message' ];  \t\t\t\t\tfor( var i=0; i <inputs.length; i++ ) if( ! ( opts[inputs[i]]=document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"' + inputs[i] + '\"]' ).value ) ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .required-message' ).style.display='block'; \t\t\t\t\t\treturn; \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction input[type=\"submit\"]' ).style.display='none'; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).src=firefly_loading_gif_url; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display='inline-block';  \t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( 'ma subbing' );  \t\t\t\t\tif( firefly_post_id ) opts['post_id']=firefly_post_id;  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Send the data using post with element id name and name2*\/ \t\t\t\t\tvar posting=jQuery.post( firefly_ajax_url, opts );  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Alerts the results *\/ \t\t\t\t\tposting.done( function( response ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tif( response.success ) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( response.data ); \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display='none'; \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-confirm' ).style.display='block';  \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdataLayer.push( { 'event': 'submit-correction' } ); \t\t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t} \t\t<\/script> \t     \t\t\t\t\t\t     \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p style=\"border: 1px solid #f5f5f5; padding: 16px;\">Advertise with The Western Journal and reach millions of highly engaged readers, while supporting our work. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/advertise-us\/?wj_source=article\">Advertise Today<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><script>console.log(\"ad slot (BA1)\")<\/script> \t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Tennessee carried out the execution of an inmate on Tuesday without turning off his implanted defibrillator, despite doubts about whether the device would deliver shocks during the lethal injection. Prison officials reported that Byron Black died at 10:43 a.m. Witnesses noted that shortly after the injection began, Black told a spiritual advisor present that he was in severe pain<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2471199,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/TN-death-penalty.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[39043,52966,32275,60698,60699],"class_list":["post-2471198","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-capital-punishment","tag-legal-intervention","tag-supreme-court","tag-tennessee-execution","tag-triple-murderer"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/TN-death-penalty.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2471198","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2471198"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2471198\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2471202,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2471198\/revisions\/2471202"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2471199"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2471198"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2471198"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2471198"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}