WARNING, GRAPHIC CONTENT: Byron Black was put to death on Thursday for killing his girlfriend and her two daughters in a jealous rage. His final words were recorded
A killer who murdered his girlfriend and her two children nearly four decades ago cried “Oh, it’s hurting so bad” after receiving a lethal injection on death row yesterday.
Byron Black passed away after approximately 10 minutes following the injection, administered despite authorities refusing to switch off the murderer’s implanted defibrillator amid concerns it could trigger unnecessary, agonising shocks in response to the drugs.
Strapped down with his hands and chest secured to the gurney, a sheet pulled up to his waist, and an IV tube in his arm, Black, 69, exclaimed: “Oh, it’s hurting so bad” after the injection at a prison in Nashville, Tennessee. However, painful Black’s death could have been, there have been recent reports of even worse executions.
During the execution, a spiritual adviser offered prayers and hymns over Black, at one stage placing a hand on his face. His legal representative confirmed they would examine data recorded by the device as part of a post-mortem examination.
This follows a triple killer who thanked prison officers for “the most cold, calculated” execution moments before receiving a deadly injection in Florida.
Black’s defence team had campaigned for weeks urging authorities to deactivate his implantable cardioverter-defibrillator. The pensioner relied on a wheelchair, suffered from dementia, brain damage, kidney failure, congestive heart failure and other ailments, his lawyers stated, reports the Mirror.
The nonprofit Death Penalty Information Center has stated that it’s unaware of any other cases with similar claims to Black’s about device or pacemakers.
However, the centre did insist that there was evidence that the drugs used on death row caused “unnecessary, painful shocks” to the implanted defibrillator.
Black’s lawyer described the execution as shameful. His solicitor Kelley Henry said: “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 was found guilty for the 1988 shooting deaths of his girlfriend Angela Clay, 29, and her two daughters; Latoya Clay, nine, and six year old Lakeisha Clay. Prosecutors claimed 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 Miss Clay’s estranged husband.
Miss Clay’s sister expressed that Black will now face a higher power. Linette Bell, Miss Clay’s sister, said in a statement read by a victim’s advocate after the execution.
She added: “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.”
In mid-July, a trial court judge agreed with Black’s lawyers that officials must have to avert the risk that it could cause unnecessary pain and prolong the execution.
However, Tennessee’s Supreme Court overturned that decision Thursday, stating the other judge lacked authority to order the change.
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