The U.S. Supreme Court on Aug. 4 declined to stay the execution of a Tennessee inmate whose lawyers argued his pacemaker may cause him pain by shocking him during the execution process.
Byron Lewis Black is scheduled to be executed by lethal injection on Aug. 5. On the evening of Aug. 4, Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee, a Republican, said he would not grant Black a reprieve.
The nation’s highest court rejected without comment several filings seeking to stay Black’s execution. No justices dissented.
The Tennessee Supreme Court previously denied Black’s most recent request for a reprieve on Aug. 1.
Black was convicted in the 1988 murders of his 29-year-old girlfriend, Angela Clay, and her two daughters, Lakeisha, 6, and Latoya, 9. He received consecutive life sentences for killing Angela Clay and Latoya. He received the death penalty for murdering Lakeisha because the jury determined there were aggravating circumstances….