U.S.
Tennessee executes man with implanted heart device despite concerns over shock risk

Updated on: August 5, 2025 / 2:39 PM EDT / CBS/AP

An inmate executed by Tennessee without deactivating his implanted defibrillator said he was hurting badly shortly after the lethal injection began, according to several witnesses.

Byron Black was put to death despite uncertainty about whether the device would shock his heart when the lethal chemicals took effect. His attorney said they will review data kept by the device as part of an autopsy.

Black died at 10:43 a.m., prison officials said. It was about 10 minutes after the execution started and Black talked about being in pain. … Black looked around the room as the execution started and could be heard sighing and breathing heavily. All seven media witnesses to the execution agreed he appeared to be in discomfort.

Black was executed after a back-and-forth in court over whether officials would need to turn off his implantable cardioverter-defibrillator, or ICD. Black, 69, was in a wheelchair, suffering from dementia, brain damage, kidney failure, congestive heart failure and other conditions, his attorneys have said.

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