Tennessee plans 1st COVID-19-era execution, more scheduled

By JONATHAN MATTISE and TRAVIS LOLLER
Associated Press

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Tennessee is set this week to execute its first inmate since the start of the coronavirus pandemic. Inmate Oscar Smith is scheduled to receive a lethal injection Thursday for the 1989 killings of his estranged wife and her teenage sons. The execution method is the state’s preferred means. It also puts Tennessee on a divergent path from South Carolina, which is preparing for a rare U.S. firing squad execution that has at least been temporarily delayed in court. South Carolina has been unable to obtain lethal injection drugs for years and the last U.S. firing squad execution was in 2010. Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee on Tuesday rejected a clemency filing by Smith’s attorneys.