TBA Law Blog


Posted by: Stacey Shrader Joslin on Aug 5, 2025

Byron Black, the 69-year-old man convicted of murdering his ex-girlfriend and her two daughters in 1988, was put to death Tuesday morning after Gov. Bill Lee and the U.S. Supreme Court declined to intervene. According to The Tennessean, witnesses said he showed both visible and audible signs of distress as the state administered lethal injection drugs. Black's attorneys had argued a medical device implanted in his chest could shock him as he died and had sued to have the device deactivated. Speaking after the execution, Black’s attorney said she believes the lethal injection drug did not work as intended and that Black was tortured before his death. He is just the second individual to be executed in the state using a new protocol that relies solely on pentobarbital. Several Tennessee death row inmates have filed suit arguing that the new protocol brings a high risk of torturous death.