Byron was pronounced deceased at 10:43. His lawyers argued before the procedure to deactivate his defibrillator to help make the death potentially less intense.

They claimed the defibrillator which detects and corrects irregular heartbeat would repeatedly shock his heart to bring it back into regular rhythm. The argument was that this would violate his Eighth Amendment rights against crueld and unusual punishment.

A trial judge agreed with his attorneys. However, the Supreme Court in the state overturned the decison saying the judge from the trial court did not have the authority to overturn this decison. Tennessee Governor Bill Lee also said that he was unwilling to show any leniency to Byron.

Byron’s lawyer argued that their client was ‘tortured.’ Kelley Henry, “I interpret that my client was tortured today,” they said.

The attorney said, “a gentle, kind, fragile, intellectually disabled man in a violation of the laws of our country simply because they could.”