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Tennessee Supreme Court delays 2nd execution due to pandemic

Byron Black’s execution was scheduled for Oct. 8, but the court moved it to April 8, 2021.

Credit: AP

FILE - This undated file photo provided by the Tennessee Department of Correction shows Byron Black. The Tennessee Supreme Court has granted a six-month delay in the execution to Byron Black, who was scheduled to die in October 2020. Black's attorneys had asked for a stay because of the difficulty of preparing an appeal. The execution was rescheduled for April 8, 2021. (Tennessee Department of Correction via AP, File)

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The Tennessee Supreme Court has issued a stay of execution for a second death row inmate because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Byron Black’s execution was scheduled for Oct. 8, but the court moved it to April 8, 2021.

Attorneys for the 64-year-old Black had said the pandemic made it impossible to have a hearing on whether he is competent to be executed.

Tennessee’s attorney general opposed Black’s motion to delay his execution.

Black was convicted by a Nashville court of murdering his girlfriend and her daughters in 1988.