NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — For more than three decades, Linette Bell has lived with the pain of losing her sister and two nieces in a brutal 1988 triple murder.

Now, as the execution date for the man convicted of their death nears, she said the agony has only deepened.

"Did he not think he was going to get death by execution?" Bell asked.

Bell's sister, Angela Clay, and her daughters LaToya, 9, and Lakeisha, 6, were gunned down inside their Nashville home. Byron Black was convicted of their murders in 1989. He has remained on death row ever since.

But now, with his execution scheduled for next month, Black's attorneys are making a final push to halt the process, arguing in Davidson County Chancery Court this week that he is too mentally impaired to be executed.

"It feels like it is never-ending," Bell said. "They aren't even resting in their own grave."

On Monday, Black's legal team argued that he suffers from intellectual disabilities and is showing signs of dementia. They also raised concerns about his implanted heart defibrillator, claiming it could interfere with the lethal injection process and potentially cause extreme pain. 

"He didn't have mercy on them, so why should we have mercy on him?" Bell questioned. 

Expert witnesses included a neuropsychologist who testified that Black meets criteria for intellectual disability, and an anesthesiologist who said the defibrillator could complicate the execution, posing a risk of additional suffering.

But for Angela Clay's family, the renewed legal arguments feel more like stalling tactics than legitimate concerns.

"They're worried about how much pain he's in," Bell said. "But what about the pain he left in us?"

As the legal debate continues, the family said they remain focused on remembering Angela, LaToya, and Lakeisha — not the man who took them away.

News Source : https://www.wkrn.com/news/local-news/nashville/what-about-the-pain-he-left-us-in-murder-victims-family-speaks-out-ahead-of-byron-blacks-execution/