Tennessee man's heart still active nearly two minutes after execution, lawyer says [View all]
Source: the guardian
Allegation raises further questions about death of Byron Black in execution lawyer
says was ‘100% botched’
Sam Levin Fri 24 Oct 2025 17.52 EDT
A man executed on Tennessee death row showed signs of “sustained cardiac activity” for nearly two minutes after he was pronounced dead, his attorney said in court on Friday.
The allegation raises further questions about how the death of Byron Black unfolded and will increase scrutiny on capital punishment in Tennessee.
Black was killed by lethal injection in August in an execution that his lawyer, Kelley Henry, at the time said was “100% botched”. Witnesses said that following the lethal injection, Black started breathing and sighing loudly, and after several minutes groaned in agony, saying, “I can’t do this” and “It hurts so bad”. He repeatedly lifted his head. He was pronounced dead roughly 10 minutes after he had cried out in pain...............
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On 5 August, Black, 69, was injected with the sedative pentobarbital, which was supposed to render him unconscious as it stopped his breathing and killed him. The state had argued Black would not consciously experience drawn-out pain. But Henry and a group of media witnesses in the execution chamber reported he was visibly in distress. She also said staff had struggled for roughly 10 minutes to find a vein in one of his arms and blood had oozed from the injection site...........................................................
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/oct/24/tennessee-execution-byron-black-cardiac-activity?CMP=share_btn_url
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