Execution Gone Wrong? Inmate’s Heartbeat Recorded Two Minutes After Death

USA —A Tennessee death row inmate convicted of murdering his girlfriend and her two young daughters appeared to show signs of life nearly two minutes after his execution — a chilling twist that has ignited a courtroom battle over the state’s lethal injection protocol.

Byron Black, 63, was sentenced to death for the 1988 murders of Angela Clay and her daughters, Latoya (6) and Lakeisha (9), whom he shot in a jealous rage inside their Nashville apartment.

On August 5, 2025, he was executed by lethal injection at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution.

But what happened next has stunned legal experts and reignited debate over capital punishment in the United States.

According to his attorney, an electrocardiogram (EKG) monitoring Black’s heart continued to show activity for nearly two minutes after he was officially declared dead.

The revelation surfaced during a hearing in Davidson County Chancery Court, where lawyers for Black and other inmates are challenging the constitutionality of Tennessee’s execution procedures.

Federal public defender Kelley Henry told the court that Black appeared to be in pain during the execution.

She said his final words were, “It’s hurting so bad,” — a cry that raised serious questions about what went wrong.

Henry explained that at one point, officials pulled down the blanket covering Black’s arm.

She believes this may have been an attempt to check or fix the IV line.

“If the IV came out,” Henry asked, “is that why Mr. Black cried out in pain?”

She also questioned the reliability of the EKG reading.

“Was the heart monitor working properly? Can we trust the data it recorded?”

Henry argued that Black’s severe medical conditions — including dementia, heart failure, brain damage, and kidney disease — along with an implanted heart defibrillator, may have caused him to suffer during the procedure.

She emphasized that the EKG record ended after one minute and fifty seconds, but it’s unclear whether his heart continued beating even longer.

The case has drawn comparisons to the May 22 execution of Oscar Smith, another Tennessee death row inmate.

In that case, no heart activity was recorded because the EKG machine reportedly lacked paper.

Henry cited this as further evidence of systemic failures.

“Since we filed this lawsuit, two executions have already gone off-script.

“The state has repeatedly failed to follow its own protocol,” she told the court.

Deputy Attorney General Cody Brandon pushed back, arguing that the protocol does not require paper in the EKG machine and that the identities of the execution team must remain protected.

He suggested that Tennessee Department of Correction officials could testify instead, provided the defense outlines specific areas of inquiry.

Oscar Smith, convicted of murdering his estranged wife and her two sons in 1989, was granted a last-minute reprieve in April 2022 after it was discovered that the lethal drugs had not been properly tested.

That incident triggered a yearlong investigation, which exposed multiple failures in Tennessee’s execution system.

Despite recommendations for reform, attorneys argue that the Department of Correction adopted a new protocol in 2023 that lacks transparency and accountability.

The current lawsuit, filed in March 2025, accuses the state of ignoring those findings.

A trial is scheduled for April 2026, where the court will determine whether Tennessee’s revised execution procedures violate constitutional protections against cruel and unusual punishment.

Judge Perkins said he would take the matter under advisement and issue a ruling on the next steps.