State’s first execution since pandemic called off by Gov. Lee

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Tennessee’s governor has called off what was to have been the state’s first execution since the start of the pandemic.

FILE – This undated photo provided by the Tennessee Department of Correction shows inmate Oscar Smith. Tennessee’s governor on Thursday, April 21, called off what was to have been the state’s first execution since the start of the pandemic, granting a temporary reprieve to Smith, 72, for what was called an “oversight” in preparations for the lethal injection. Republican Gov. Bill Lee didn’t elaborate on what issue forced the surprise 11th-hour stop to the planned execution. (Tennessee Department of Correction via AP, File)

Republican Gov. Bill Lee issued a statement Thursday saying he was granting a temporary reprieve to 72-year-old inmate Oscar Smith, Tennessee’s oldest death row inmate.

He cited an unspecified “oversight” in preparations for a lethal injection that was to have been given Smith on Thursday evening.

An attorney in the public defender’s office says they were notified of mishandling of execution drugs, though no further specifics were provided Smith was convicted of the 1989 killings of his estranged wife and her teenage sons.

It would have been the first execution since the pandemic began.

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