Tennessee executes Oscar Smith, ending pause on lethal injections

The state of Tennessee executed Oscar Franklin Smith Thursday morning. It was the first lethal injection since 2019, and comes on the heels of a third-party investigation into the state’s protocol that found failures in testing the drugs used during executions.

Smith was convicted of killing his wife Judith Smith and her two sons, Jason and Chad Burnett, in 1989. Over the years, he’s had multiple execution dates that were rescheduled because of COVID-19 and moratoriums to review the state’s lethal injection process.

At a news conference after the execution, Tennessee Department of Correction Commissioner Frank Strada confirmed Smith was pronounced dead at 10:47 a.m.

Judith Smith’s brother and sister then delivered remarks (full statement here).

“The pain of losing Judy, Chad, and Jason is something that we will continue to carry,” her sister said. “It’s not a moment that goes by that we don’t miss them. I miss the sound of Judy’s voice — I know my brother does as well — on the other end of the phone. We miss the excitement of planning Chad’s driving lessons, and we miss the pure joy of hearing Jason’s laughter. These are memories and wounds that will never fully heal.”

Mark Humphrey AP Photo

Terri Osborne, center, speaks as her brother, Mike Robirds, right, listens outside Riverbend Maximum Security Institution after the execution of Oscar Smith on Thursday. Osborne and Robirds are siblings of Judy Robirds, shown in the photograph at right, who was murdered, along with her sons, in 1989.

Multiple media witnesses, who also gave statements at the news conference, said they did not know exactly when the lethal injection drug was administered to Oscar Smith. According to the nonprofit Death Penalty Information Center, there have been at least nine botched lethal injections across the United States since 2020, which have resulted in failed attempts and prolonged deaths.

Lawyers for death row inmates asked Gov. Bill Lee for a reprieve while a legal challenge to the state’s lethal injection protocol makes its way through the courts. However, Lee denied that request Tuesday, closing the door on Smith’s final appeal.

More: This Is Nashville interviews Casey Smith, son of executed man

Courtesy Tennessee Department of Correction

Judy Robirds, right, and her sons Chad, 16, and Jason, 13, were murdered in 1989, leading to the conviction of estranged husband Oscar Franklin Smith.

On Thursday morning, protesters gathered on the grass outside Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in West Nashville. They were divided into two camps at a security checkpoint—  dozens against the death penalty, and one in favor of it.

“Everything about the death penalty is against the sanctity of life,” protester Alex Sager said. “It’s not pro-life, whatever that word means, whatever that phrase means. So especially in the South where that phrase is used a lot … why isn’t this also an issue? Is this pro-life?”

Sager, who said her background going to church has helped shape her views, said executions contradict Christianity’s teachings.

Another anti-death penalty protester, John Lozier, also mentioned his faith. He called on the governor to take action.

“My sign says, ‘Bill Lee could stop this unholy murder,'” Lozier said. “I’d like to see the governor act on my understanding of Christian faith.”

Mark Humphrey AP Photo

John Lozier, an anti-death penalty protester, holds a sign making reference to Gov. Bill Lee as he stands outside Riverbend Maximum Security Institution.

In his final moments, Smith also criticized Lee. He maintained his innocence, and said the governor was allowing TDOC to put innocent people to death.

“I’m not the first, and I won’t be the last,” he said.

After his last words and a brief conversation with his minister, Smith received a lethal dose of pentobarbital. During the last week of the Biden Administration, the Department of Justice issued a report criticizing the use of pentobarbital in lethal injections, saying it comes with too high a risk for unnecessary pain and suffering.

Autopsy reports have revealed that a majority of lethal injections — regardless of the drug used — cause pulmonary edemas. That is a form of lung damage, where fluid buildup creates a drowning sensation.

It’s difficult to assess in real time whether that damage has happened. One of Smith’s attorneys, Amy Harwell, said that will remain a mystery.

“Because an autopsy would violate Oscar’s deeply held religious beliefs, we will never know for sure whether he experienced the pulmonary edema,” she said.

This was the first time Tennessee’s execution team used a single-drug process and administered a lethal dose of pentobarbital. Until then, the department relied on a three-drug cocktail — a sedative, a paralytic and a drug to stop the heart.

That change happened after Lee halted all executions in April 2022. He learned on one of Smith’s prior execution dates that the drugs intended to kill him hadn’t been properly tested. Lee then ordered an independent investigation of TDOC’s lethal injection process, which revealed widespread mismanagement. He said the state wouldn’t execute anyone until the department wrote a new protocol. It was released in January.