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Irick execution
Tennessee executed its first inmate in nearly a decade Thursday night. Billy Ray Irick was pronounced dead by lethal injection at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville just before 8 p.m. Irick was convicted of raping and murdering 7-year-old Paula Dyer in Knoxville in 1985. Several witnesses, including Dyer's family, were allowed to watch the execution behind a glass wall. They say when Irick was asked if he had an final words, he said no then paused, and said "I just want to say I'm really sorry and that's it." Doctors injected three drugs to kill Irick, triggering protests across the state. Witnesses describe Irick as making a snoring noise shortly after the drugs were injected. "There was some noise coming from him. It sounded like he was gasping, coughing a little bit at some times and sort of puffing his breath," said John Mattise, who witnessed the execution. Witnesses say it took about 20 minutes from the time the drugs were first injected till Irick was pronounced dead. Irick's attorney, Gene Siles, told witnesses "I never thought for one moment that it would come to this. I never did. I thought somebody would actually look at the facts. I was wrong." Siles had argued that Irick was mentally ill at the time the crime was committed.
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Return to Today's News Stories - Front PageThursday, April 29, 2021
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Mill Creek Wildfire Update
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Wednesday, April 28, 2021
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