Byron Lewis Black’s Final 24 Hours: Last Meal, Last Words & The Disturbing Tennessee Execution
Byron Lewis Black was just executed on August 5th, 2025. He was a 69-year-old Tennessee inmate at the time of his execution. In this video, we’ll explore the life of Byron Lewis Black, a 69-year-old Tennessee inmate who spent 37 years on death row for the brutal 1988 murder of his girlfriend and her two young daughters.
We’ll dive into the shocking crime, what led to his crime of rage, the evidence that convicted him, and the long legal battle that followed. We’ll also cover his final meal, the physical distress during his execution, and his last words, or lack thereof. Stay tuned as we unravel the chilling case of Byron Lewis Black.
Byron Black’s history was marked by violent behavior, particularly within his relationship with Angela Clay, his girlfriend and later victim. In 1987, Blackshot and wounded Benny Clay, Angela’s aranged husband, during an altercation. For this offense, Black was serving a 2-year sentence in a Nashville jail. However, in March 1988, he was granted a weekend work release furlow during which he committed the murders of Angela and her two daughters.
Court records revealed earlier incidents of domestic violence. Black had once kicked down Angela’s door after she refused him entry and allegedly threatened to harm her if she reconciled with her aranged husband. These prior acts of violence and control set the stage for the brutal murders that followed. The tragic deaths of Angela Latoya and Lkesha became known as the Clay family murders in Tennessee, capturing the public’s attention and resulting in Black’s eventual conviction and execution.
On the night of March 27th to 28th, 1988, Angela Clay, a lab technician, and her two daughters were k!lled in Angela’s home in Nashville, Tennessee. Police discovered the bodies on March 28th, 1988 after concerned relatives requested a welfare check when they hadn’t heard from Angela. The victims were found shot to death inside Angela’s apartment.
Angela was discovered in her bed with a fatal head wound. Her 9-year-old daughter, Latoya, was found in the same bedroom, shot through the neck and chest. And six-year-old Lkesha was found in her own bedroom, face down on the floor next to her bed. She had been shot twice, once in the chest and once in the pelvic area at close range.
Medical evidence indicated she may have survived for several minutes after being shot and even tried to shield herself as a Gray’s wound and bloody handprints on the bed frame suggested an attempt to crawl or move after being wounded. Investigators determined that all three were shot in their beds, indicating they were attacked while asleep or defenseless.
Prosecutors later described the k!llings as execution style murders committed in a jealous rage by Black. In the weeks leading up to the crime, Angela’s neighbors had heard Black and Angela arguing and Black had made threats. He told her, “If I can’t have you, nobody will.” According to court testimony, Angela was reportedly considering reconciling with her aranged husband, Benny, at that time, which authorities believe was a trigger for Black’s violent jealousy.
Evidence presented at trial painted a brutal picture of the crime. Ballistic analysis indicated a large caliber revolver was used in the shootings. Angela was shot once in the head at very close range as she slept and each of her daughters was shot while in bed. Latoya once through the neck and chest and Lkesha twice.
Blood evidence and bullet trajectories suggested the children were initially shot in their beds and had moved or fallen to the floor after being wounded. Notably, investigators found telephones in the apartment that had been ripped from their bases and thrown down, and Black’s fingerprints were the only ones found on those phones.
This physical evidence placed him at the scene, contradicting his claims of not being involved. Neighbors also reported hearing a series of loud bangs in the early morning hours of March 28th that corresponded to gunshots. Byron Black was not immediately arrested at the crime scene. He initially spoke with police as a potential witness.
When questioned hours after the bodies were discovered, Black feained shock and provided inconsistent alibis, even claiming he found the bodies and panicked without telling anyone. However, as the investigation progressed, forensic evidence began to link him to the murders. Two weeks later, state ballistics experts matched the murder weapon to a bullet removed from Benny Clay’s shoulder, a bullet that had been lodged there since Blackshot him in 1987.
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This same gun was determined to have been used in the k!llings of Angela and her two children in 1988. Additional fingerprint evidence and Black’s history of threats against Angela further solidified his connection to the crime. In 1989, Black was convicted by a Nashville jury on three counts of first-degree murder and sentenced to death for the triple homicide.
Throughout his legal proceedings, Black consistently denied involvement in the murders, but the courts found overwhelming evidence against him. He would spend the next 37 years on death row from his 1988 arrest until his execution in 2025. In his later years on death row, Black was confined to a wheelchair and suffered from multiple serious health issues, including dementia, brain damage, kidney failure, congestive heart failure, and other ailments.
Doctors had implanted an implantable cardioverter defibrillator, ICD, in his chest in 2024 to manage his heart condition. Black’s attorneys also maintained that he had an intellectual disability, noting that multiple IQ tests over the years placed his IQ below 70. His cognitive functioning further declined due to dementia as he aged.
In the early hours of his execution day, August 5th, 2025, Byron Black was given his requested final meal. According to the Tennessee Department of Correction and his attorney, Black’s last meal served around 4:45 a.m. consisted of a pizza with mushrooms and sausage, donuts, and butter pecan ice cream. He ate this meal on death watch before spending some of his final hours in prayer.
Black participated in a small cellside church service after breakfast on the morning of his execution. Black was executed by lethal injection at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville on August 5th, 2025. He was pronounced dead at 10:43 a.m. that day, roughly 10 minutes after the drugs began flowing. Black’s execution was Tennessee’s second execution of 2025, following a 5-year hiatus in executions in the state.
Witnesses reported that when asked if he had any last words, Black replied, “No comment.” Instead, Black’s parting messages were conveyed privately through his attorney and spiritual adviser. His longtime lawyer, Kelly Henry, noted that Byron left this world with words of grace, mercy, and love, expressing gratitude to his family supporters, and even to kind prison staff in the days before his death.
However, those sentiments were not spoken in the execution chamber. Officially, Black’s execution proceeded without any spoken last words to the assembled witnesses. Unusually, Byron Black entered the execution chamber with an active implantable cardioverter defibrillator, ICD, still in his chest. His attorneys argued that the ICD could deliver painful shocks during the lethal injection, but a judge’s order to deactivate it was overturned by the Tennessee Supreme Court.
The state claimed Black wouldn’t feel the shocks even if the ICD is activated. Governor Bill Lee declined to intervene and the US Supreme Court denied his final appeals, allowing the execution to proceed with the ICD still active. Multiple media witnesses and officials observed that Black appeared to be in significant distress during the execution.
After being wheeled into the chamber, he was unable to walk. Black was strapped to the gurnie and I vines were placed, a process reportedly made difficult by his poor health, taking nearly 10 minutes and causing some bleeding as medical staff struggled to find a vein. Once the lethal injection began around 10:33 a.m., witnesses saw Black breathing heavily, groaning, and even lifting his head off the gurnie despite being mostly strapped down.
According to a reporter present, Black cried out, “This is hurting so bad.” Shortly after the drug started flowing, his spiritual adviser, who stood near him in the chamber, sang hymns and softly reassured Black as he reacted in pain. One witness heard the spiritual adviser say, “I’m so sorry. Just listen to my voice,” trying to comfort him when he groaned.
Black’s moan subsided about 2 minutes into the injection, and he eventually fell silent and still. He lost consciousness and was declared dead at 10:43 a.m. The execution was witnessed by two groups. The victim’s family and Black’s family and supporters along with media representatives. Angela Clay’s relatives, including her sister, Lynette Bell and cousin Nicole Davis, were present and expressed a sense of justice.
Davis, who was 13 when the murders occurred and 51 at the time of the execution, said, “Justice is justice, and justice has to be served.” The family prayed for Angela and her daughters to rest in peace, feeling that 37 years of waiting had finally come to an
