Supreme Court, Governor Decline to Block Execution

The US Supreme Court and Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee declined to intervene on Monday, leaving the state free to proceed to execute Byron Black on Tuesday morning without disabling implanted defibrillator. Black's lawyers say the injection could repeatedly shock his heart if the cardioverter-defibrillator is still functioning, the AP reports, causing unnecessary pain and a prolonged execution they contend would violate the US Constitution. The 69-year-old, who killed his girlfriend and her two daughters in 1988, also has dementia and brain damage. Tests found his IQ to be below 70, per the Nashville Banner.

Lee declined Monday to grant a reprieve, saying the courts have "universally determined that it is lawful to carry out the jury's sentence of execution given to Mr. Black for the heinous murders of Angela Clay and her daughters Lakeisha, age 6, and Latoya, age 9." Court filings show state officials indicated they do not have a medical professional available to turn off the implant, per CNN. "I don't want him to suffer. I do not want him tortured," said Kelley Henry, an attorney for Black.