NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — This morning at Riverbend Prison, the state Department of Correction executed Tennessee death row inmate Byron Black.
This happened after a controversial couple of weeks leading up to his execution.
While family members of the victims — Angela Clay and her two daughters, Latoya and Lakeisha — thanked God for this day, Black’s attorneys called the act unconstitutional, saying he has an intellectual disability.
His legal team also took issue with his heart monitor implant device remaining on during the execution — calling on the state and even the US Supreme Court to intervene.
At 10 a.m., seven journalists served as media witnesses to the execution, including NewsChannel 5's Nikki Hauser.
They collectively recounted several indications of discomfort or distress from Black during the lethal injection. Some of the sounds and gestures he made, and his last words, seemed to convey that he was in a certain amount of pain.
"He made the comment that it was hurting so bad. That was audible," said Jonathan Mattise from the Associated Press. Several witnesses recounted the same wording.
During the 10-minute viewing of his execution, witnesses also saw him pick up his head multiple times, and he audibly sighed at various points.
"A number of times, I would say 3 or 4, Byron Black picked his head up, moved around a little bit," remembered Mattise. "He exhaled deeply."
At his side the whole time was a spiritual adviser, who prayed throughout the execution. She touched his cheek towards the beginning of the lethal injection while she said prayers.
"She was praying for his soul, he continued praying for all the victims," explained another witness.
After several minutes, Byron Black stopped moving, and a rock was placed inside the room to indicate the drug had been fully administered.
Those who witnessed the death of Oscar Franklin Smith, the last inmate to die in May, say Byron Black's execution was a very different experience.
"Oscar Franklin Smith was not panting or sighing or making any of these kinds of sounds that Byron Black did during his execution today," concluded Catherine Sweeney with WKLN.
Do you have more information about this story? You can email me at nikki.hauser@newschannel5.com.
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