NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Just over three years ago, Oscar Smith came within minutes of being executed before Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee issued a surprise reprieve that revealed problems with the lethal injection drugs. On Thursday, the state is prepared to try again.

Asked in a recent phone interview about coming so close to death in 2022, Smith declined to reflect very deeply on it but instead expressed a wish that Lee had not intervened, saying the past three years on death row have been “more than hell.” Without going into specifics, he said conditions at the Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville, Tennessee, have deteriorated, and he accused its officials of not following policies.

Smith, 75, said he asked his family to stay away on Thursday and not witness his execution because “they don’t need to see anything like that.”

Smith was convicted of fatally stabbing and shooting his estranged wife, Judith Smith, and her sons, Jason and Chad, 13 and 16, at their Nashville home on Oct. 1, 1989. A Davidson County jury sentenced him to death the following year.

Some relatives of Smith’s victims do plan to attend the execution, Tennessee Department of Correction spokesperson Dorinda Carter said in an email. The Associated Press requested to interview relatives through the Tennessee Attorney General’s victim services office, but no one agreed to be interviewed.

“My own personal minister will be with me in the execution chamber with her hand on my shoulder praying,” Smith said. He is grateful for that, but also worried about her.

“I’m having a real hard time adjusting to the idea of having a young lady in the execution chamber,” he said. “She doesn’t need any bad experiences.”

Smith will be the first Tennessee inmate to be executed under a new lethal injection process released in late December that uses a single dose of the barbiturate pentobarbital. While the method is new to Tennessee, it has been used by other states and the federal government.

A review of the drug under President Joe Biden’s administration led then-Attorney General Merrick Garland to halt its use in federal executions, finding it had the potential to cause “ unnecessary pain and suffering.” New Attorney General Pam Bondi has ordered the Justice Department to reconsider that decision.

Smith is suing Tennessee over the update to the execution protocols, arguing TDOC failed to follow the recommendations of a yearlong independent investigation called for by Lee in 2022. However, that trial is not until next January — too late to change anything for Smith. Only Lee has the power to stop the execution. He said on Tuesday that he plans to let it go forward.

While lethal injection is the state’s preferred method of execution, some Tennessee inmates in recent years have exercised the option of death in the electric chair, expressing the opinion that it would be quicker and less painful. Smith, too, had the option to choose the electric chair, but declined to make a choice.

“Because of my religious beliefs, I wouldn’t participate or sign anything,” he said. “I was taught that taking your own life, or having anything to do with it, is a sin.”

Smith has continued to claim that he is innocent. In a phone interview on May 7 — shortly before he was to begin a 14-day period of relative isolation that is part of the new Tennessee execution protocol — Smith mostly wanted to discuss his case and the various ways he feels his trial was unfair.

In 2022, a Davidson County Criminal Court judge denied requests to reopen his case after a new type of DNA analysis found the DNA of an unknown person on one of the murder weapons.

“Now that I could rebut everything they used against me, the courts don’t want to hear it,” is the way Smith sees it. He says he wants a new trial and “to be found truly innocent by a jury of my peers.”

However, the judge who declined to reopen his case found the evidence of Smith’s guilt extensive, citing prior threats and a life insurance policy taken out by Smith for the three victims.

Speaking about the execution, Smith said, “It sounds like we’re going back to medieval times, to the gladiators. People want to see blood sports.

“Why anyone wants to see anyone being killed, I don’t understand it. We’re supposed to be a civilized country.”

Copyright
© 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Ahead of severe weather this afternoon, some school districts dismiss their students early.

Here is who is closing early:

• Bedford County Schools — closing two hours early
• Franklin County Schools — 1 p.m.
• Giles County Schools — 1 p.m.
• Lawrence County Schools — 1 p.m.

We will update this list if more schools close.
Do you have more information about this story? You can email my5@newschannel5.com.

Tennessee basketball’s most accomplished point guard in school history is officially a graduate of the university.

Zakai Zeigler, after spending four years with Tennessee’s men’s basketball program, has walked the stage at graduation, majoring in ‘retail & merchandising management.’

At his graduation, Zeigler wore glasses with a camera that recorded the moment. You can watch the video below.

TALK ABOUT IT IN THE ROCKY TOP FORUM

Standing at just a listed 5-foot-9, his pesky defense earned him consecutive SEC Defensive Player of the Year honors. He was also a finalist for Naismith Defensive Player of the Year as a senior alongside Jahmai Mashack. This was the first time a pair of teammates were ever in the group of four finalists.

As a senior, he earned multiple All-American honors and was a First-Team All-SEC player. This came on averages of 13.6 points, 7.4 assists and 2.9 rebounds per game.

He shot 40.4% from the field and 32.2% on 3-pointers during the campaign. He started in all 37 contests he appeared in while missing one game.

The result of the Zeigler-led squad was a back-to-back trip to the Elite Eight. Zeigler was a major part of two of Tennessee’s three Elite Eight appearances due to making the round the year prior, as well.

As a junior on that Elite Eight squad, Zeigler started in 30 games and appeared in 36. He averaged 11.8 points per game to go with 6.1 assists and 2.8 rebounds.

He was a First-Team All-SEC member that year along with his first of two SEC Defensive Player of the Year honors.

As a sophomore, Zeigler started in 15 of his 30 appearances. His season was cut short, though, due to an ACL injury late in the year.

He still managed to crack the SEC All-Defense team while averaging 10.7 points per game with 5.4 assists and 2.7 rebounds.

As a freshman, Zeigler played in 35 games and started one. He averaged 8.8 points, 2.7 assists and 1.9 rebounds while sharing time with fellow freshman point guard Kennedy Chandler.

As a recruit, Zeigler was just a three-star prospect whose recruitment didn’t gain much traction until late in his high school career. An impressive performance at Peach Jam put him on Barnes and Tennessee’s radar.

He played at Our Savior Lutheran in Bronx, New York and was the No. 42 point guard in the 2022 cycle.