NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Byron Black, a 69-year-old inmate convicted of the 1988 murders of his ex-girlfriend and her two young daughters, was executed by lethal injection on August 5, 2025. The execution proceeded despite a significant legal battle over his implanted cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) and witness accounts suggesting Black experienced considerable pain during the procedure.
The Crime and Conviction
Byron Lewis Black was convicted in 1989 for the 1988 shooting deaths of Angela Clay, 29, and her daughters, Latoya Clay, 9, and Lakeisha Clay, 6, at their home in Davidson County, Tennessee. Prosecutors contended that Black, who was on work release at the time for shooting Clay’s estranged husband, acted in a jealous rage. He was sentenced to death for the murder of Lakeisha Clay and received two life sentences for the murders of Angela and Latoya Clay.
Legal Battle Over Implanted Heart Device
In the weeks leading up to his scheduled execution, Black’s legal team launched a fervent campaign to have his implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) deactivated. Attorneys argued that the lethal injection drugs, particularly pentobarbital, could trigger the device’s defibrillation function, leading to painful, repeated shocks and prolonging his suffering in violation of the Eighth Amendment’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment. The ICD, surgically implanted to act as both a pacemaker and an emergency defibrillator, was set to shock Black’s heart if his pulse dropped too low or his rhythm became irregular.
A Davidson County Chancery Court initially sided with Black’s attorneys, issuing a preliminary injunction on July 18, 2025, ordering the Tennessee Department of Correction (TDOC) to deactivate the device moments before the execution, with a qualified medical professional present. The judge noted that deactivating the ICD, which requires a handheld programming device and not surgery, posed no undue administrative burden and could avert irreparable harm.
However, the TDOC appealed this ruling, arguing the trial court lacked the authority to impose conditions on an execution order from the state’s highest court. Nashville General Hospital, which managed Black’s care, also stated it was unwilling to perform the deactivation at the prison, citing ethical concerns and stating the request was outside their agreement with the state. The state contended that Black would be rendered unconscious by the pentobarbital, and therefore would not feel any potential shocks.
On July 31, 2025, the Tennessee Supreme Court vacated the lower court’s injunction. The justices ruled that the injunction acted as an impermissible stay of execution, a power they determined the trial court did not possess. While the ruling did not prohibit an agreement on deactivation, it removed the court-ordered precondition, clearing the path for the execution to proceed with the device active. The U.S. Supreme Court subsequently denied applications for a stay of execution filed by Black’s attorneys.
The Execution and Witness Accounts
Black was executed by lethal injection on August 5, 2025, at the Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville. Prison officials confirmed his death at 10:43 a.m.. According to multiple media witnesses present, Black appeared to be in distress shortly after the lethal injection began. He was observed lifting his head off the gurney multiple times, sighing, and breathing heavily. At one point, Black audibly told his spiritual advisor, “Oh, it’s hurting so bad”. Witnesses unanimously agreed that he appeared to be in discomfort.
Black’s attorney, Kelley Henry, stated that early data retrieved from Black’s ICD indicated it did not shock him. However, she emphasized that the evidence clearly showed the pentobarbital did not render Black unconscious as quickly or effectively as the state’s experts had testified, leading to his suffering. The execution was Tennessee’s second since a five-year pause that followed issues with lethal injection protocols and the COVID-19 pandemic.
Autopsy Findings and Broader Concerns
An autopsy report released on September 10, 2025, provided a potential explanation for Black’s apparent suffering. It revealed evidence of “pulmonary congestion and edema” – a significant buildup of fluid in the lungs that can cause sensations of “doom, panic, drowning, and asphyxiation”. This condition has been found in a substantial percentage of autopsies of prisoners executed by lethal injection, irrespective of the drug protocol used, and was a concern raised by Black’s attorneys prior to his execution.
The case also highlighted recurring issues at the intersection of medical ethics and capital punishment. The refusal of medical professionals and facilities to participate in deactivating the ICD, citing ethical concerns about facilitating executions, underscored the ongoing debate surrounding physician involvement in the death penalty.
Victims’ Family Perspective
In a statement read by a victim’s advocate after the execution, Lynette Bell, the sister of Angela Clay, expressed a long-awaited sense of closure. “His family is now going through the same thing we went through 37 years ago,” Bell stated. “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”.
Black’s legal team had also pursued other avenues, including arguments that he was intellectually disabled and thus ineligible for the death penalty, and a clemency petition to Governor Bill Lee. These efforts were unsuccessful. The execution of Byron Black brings to a close a decades-long legal saga, while raising persistent questions about the application of lethal injection and the ethical boundaries in capital punishment, issues that continue to be a subject of ongoing news and debate.