Allegation raises further questions about death of Byron Black in execution lawyer says was ‘100% botched’
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.
This week, Henry, a federal public defender, told a judge that an electrocardiogram showed nearly two minutes of ongoing activity in Black’s heart after officials had declared him dead, the Associated Press reported. She was testifying in court in ongoing litigation challenging the state’s lethal injection protocols.
