NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — The Tennessee Supreme Court set two different execution dates Wednesday after halting that practice during the pandemic.
Originally stayed because of COVID-19, the court set Oscar Franklin Smith's execution date for April 21, 2022. Smith is convicted of killing three family members — Judith Lynn Smith, 35; Chad Burnett, 16; and Jason Burnett, 13 — in Nashville in 1989.
The same stay happened for Harold Wayne Nichols, who will now face his execution date June 9, 2022. He is convicted of rape and murder in Chattanooga in 1988.
These two executions come after the state reinstated capital punishment in 2018.
