Tennessee man is executed for killing his wife and her 2 sons, 3 years after last-minute reprieve

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Tennessee inmate Oscar Smith was executed by lethal injection on Thursday morning for the 1989 murders of his estranged wife, Judith Smith, and her teenage sons, Jason and Chad Burnett.

Smith was pronounced dead at 10:47 a.m. after a lethal injection of the barbiturate pentobarbital. The 75-year-old had maintained his innocence. In a lengthy final statement, he railed against the justice system, saying it “doesn't work," echoing sentiments expressed in a recent interview with The Associated Press.

Speaking of Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee, Smith said, “He has the last word and is the last person who can give justice where justice is needed." There are more men waiting to die at the prison, he said. “I'm not the first, and I'm not going to be the last."

Smith was strapped to a gurney and had an IV in his right arm. It was attached to a long tube that ran into a different room where the lethal injection was administered. Witnesses saw no obvious sign that the injection had begun after his final statement, but Smith's speech became labored as he spoke with his spiritual adviser. Witnesses heard him say, “I didn’t kill her.” He appeared calm and did not appear to struggle as visible signs of respiration stopped.

Thursday marked the first time Tennessee officials allowed a spiritual adviser into the execution chamber with the inmate. She prayed over Smith and comforted him, at one point singing, “I'll Fly Away.”

Smith was convicted of fatally stabbing and shooting Judith Smith, 13-year-old Jason Burnett and 16-year-old Chad Burnett at their Nashville, Tennessee, home on Oct. 1, 1989. He was sentenced to death by a Davidson County jury in July 1990 for the murders.

In 2022, a Davidson County Criminal Court judge denied requests to reopen his case despite some new evidence that the DNA of an unknown person was on one of the murder weapons. The judge wrote that the evidence of Smith’s guilt was overwhelming and the DNA evidence did not tip the scales in his favor.

Two of Smith’s co-workers testified at trial that he had solicited them to kill Judith Smith, and he had a history of threats and violence against her and the boys. Smith had also taken out insurance policies on all three victims. And one of the child victims could be heard yelling what prosecutors said was, “Frank, no!” in the background of a 911 call on the night of the murder. Frank is Smith’s middle name and the one that he used regularly.

EDITOR’S NOTE: This story includes discussion of domestic violence. If you or someone you know needs help, please call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233.

Judith Smith's sister, Terri Osborne, and brother, Mike Robirds, witnessed the execution and spoke to reporters afterwards, standing in front of large portraits of their sister and nephews.

“The pain of losing Judy, Chad, and Jason is something we will continue to carry,” Osborne said. “Not a moment goes by that we don't miss them. We miss the sound of Judy's voice 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.”

The tragic deaths are a reminder of the devastating consequences of domestic violence, Osborne said.

“We know it is an incredibly hard thing to do to leave a spouse who is abusing, but pray that this case becomes a call to action, encouraging those in danger to seek help before it’s too late,” Osborne said.

The murders were brutal, Robirds said.

“No one should have to live in fear like our sister did," he said. "And no family should have to endure a loss like ours.”

Christina Isbell was among the death penalty opponents who protested outside the prison. Her downtown Nashville church, Christ Church Cathedral, includes a death row ministry.

“For me, it’s just all about what God teaches,” Isbell said. “And that is, even though somebody else may commit a horrible crime, you don’t go do that to them as well.”

William Burgess was the lone person standing in a fenced off area for death penalty supporters outside the prison. He said he owned a car lot across the street from the home where Smith murdered his family members. Burgess said he was one of the first one to see the bodies.

“He lived too long,” Burgess said of Smith. “Waste of taxpayers' money.”

Smith's attorney, assistant federal public defender Amy Harwell, told reporters afterward he will be remembered for his “cantankerous, curmudgeonly brand of kindness" and leatherwork skill. She said Smith will not have an autopsy due to his religious beliefs. But she said other autopsies have shown this execution method causes “excruciating pain and suffering."

Tennessee executions have been on hold for five years, first because of COVID-19 and then because of missteps by the Tennessee Department of Correction.

Smith came within minutes of execution in 2022 before a surprise reprieve from Republican Gov. Bill Lee. It later turned out the lethal drugs for that planned execution had not been properly tested. A yearlong investigation revealed numerous other problems with Tennessee executions.

The correction department issued new guidelines for executions in December that are the subject of an ongoing lawsuit.

Nineteen men have died by court-ordered execution so far this year in the U.S., and nine other people are scheduled to be put to death in seven states during the remainder of 2025.

Associated Press journalists Jonathan Mattise and Kristin M. Hall contributed.

Anti-death penalty protesters demonstrate outside Riverbend Maximum Security Institution before the execution of Oscar Smith Thursday, May 22, 2025, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)

A woman enters the area set up for those opposed to the death penalty outside Riverbend Maximum Security Institution before the execution of Oscar Smith Thursday, May 22, 2025, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)

John Lozier, an anti-death penalty protester, holds a sign making reference to Gov. Bill Lee as he stands outside Riverbend Maximum Security Institution before the execution of Oscar Smith Thursday, May 22, 2025, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)

William Floyd Burgess, who said he was the first person to enter the home after convicted killer Oscar Smith murdered his estranged wife and her two sons in 1989, stands outside Riverbend Maximum Security Institution before the execution of Smith Thursday, May 22, 2025, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)

Mike Robirds, left, speaks as his sister, Terri Osborne, right, listens outside Riverbend Maximum Security Institution after the execution of Oscar Smith Thursday, May 22, 2025, in Nashville, Tenn. Robirds and Osborne are siblings of Judy Robirds, shown in the photograph between them, who was murdered along with her sons by Oscar Smith in 1989. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)

Assistant Federal Public Defender Amy Harwell speaks outside Riverbend Maximum Security Institution after the execution of her client Oscar Smith, Thursday, May 22, 2025, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)

Terri Osborne, center, speaks as her brother, Mike Robirds, right, listens outside Riverbend Maximum Security Institution after the execution of Oscar Smith Thursday, May 22, 2025, in Nashville, Tenn. Osborne and Robirds are siblings of Judy Robirds, shown in the photograph at right, who was murdered, along with her sons, shown in the photograph at left, by Oscar Smith in 1989. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)

FILE - This undated booking photo provided by the Tennessee Department of Correction shows inmate Oscar Smith. (Tennessee Department of Correction via AP, File)

FILE - Capital punishment protesters pray on the grounds of Riverbend Maximum Security Institution before the scheduled execution of inmate Oscar Smith, April 21, 2022, in Nashville, Tenn. AP Photo/Mark Humphrey, File)

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Federal agents carrying out immigration arrests in Minnesota's Twin Cities region already shaken by the fatal shooting of a woman rammed the door of one home Sunday and pushed their way inside, part of what the Department of Homeland Security has called its largest enforcement operation ever.

In a dramatic scene similar to those playing out across Minneapolis, agents captured a man in the home just minutes after pepper spraying protesters outside who had confronted the heavily armed federal agents. Along the residential street, protesters honked car horns, banged on drums and blew whistles in attempts to disrupt the operation.

Video of the clash taken by The Associated Press showed some agents pushing back protesters while a distraught woman later emerged from the house with a document that federal agents presented to arrest the man. Signed by an immigration officer, the document — unlike a warrant signed by a judge — does not authorize forced entry into a private residence. A warrant signed by an immigration officer only authorizes arrest in a public area.

Immigrant advocacy groups have conducted extensive “know-your-rights” campaigns urging people not to open their doors unless agents have a court order signed by a judge.

But within minutes of ramming the door in a neighborhood filled with single-family homes, the handcuffed man was led away.

More than 2,000 immigration arrests have been made in Minnesota since the enforcement operation began at the beginning of December, said Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem told Fox News on Sunday that the administration would send additional federal agents to Minnesota to protect immigration officers and continue enforcement.

The Twin Cities — the latest target in President Donald Trump’s immigration enforcement campaign — is bracing for what is next after 37-year-old Renee Good was shot and killed by an immigration officer on Wednesday.

“We’re seeing a lot of immigration enforcement across Minneapolis and across the state, federal agents just swarming around our neighborhoods,” said Jason Chavez, a Minneapolis city councilmember. “They’ve definitely been out here.”

Chavez, the son of Mexican immigrants who represents an area with a growing immigrant population, said he is closely monitoring information from chat groups about where residents are seeing agents operating.

People holding whistles positioned themselves in freezing temperatures on street corners Sunday in the neighborhood where Good was killed, watching for any signs of federal agents.

More than 20,000 people have taken part in a variety of trainings to become “observers” of enforcement activities in Minnesota since the 2024 election, said Luis Argueta, a spokesperson for Unidos MN, a local human rights organization .

“It’s a role that people choose to take on voluntarily, because they choose to look out for their neighbors,” Argueta said.

The protests have been largely peaceful, but residents remained anxious. On Monday, Minneapolis public schools will start offering remote learning for the next month in response to concerns that children might feel unsafe venturing out while tensions remain high.

Many schools closed last week after Good’s shooting and the upheaval that followed.

While the enforcement activity continues, two of the state’s leading Democrats said that the investigation into Good's shooting death should not be overseen solely by the federal government.

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and U.S. Sen. Tina Smith said in separate interviews Sunday that state authorities should be included in the investigation because the federal government has already made clear what it believes happened.

“How can we trust the federal government to do an objective, unbiased investigation, without prejudice, when at the beginning of that investigation they have already announced exactly what they saw — what they think happened," Smith said on ABC’s "This Week."

The Trump administration has defended the officer who shot Good in her car, saying he was protecting himself and fellow agents and that Good had “weaponized” her vehicle.

Todd Lyons, acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, defended the officer on Fox News Channel’s “The Sunday Briefing.”

"That law enforcement officer had milliseconds, if not short time to make a decision to save his life and his other fellow agents,” he said.

Lyons also said the administration’s enforcement operations in Minnesota wouldn't be needed “if local jurisdictions worked with us to turn over these criminally illegal aliens once they are already considered a public safety threat by the locals.”

The killing of Good by an ICE officer and the shooting of two people by federal agents in Portland, Oregon, led to dozens of protests in cities across the country over the weekend, including New York, Los Angeles, Washington D.C. and Oakland, California.

Contributing were Associated Press journalists Giovanna Dell’Orto in Minneapolis; Thomas Strong in Washington; Bill Barrow in Atlanta; Christopher Weber in Los Angeles; and John Seewer in Toledo, Ohio.

A woman gets into an altercation with a federal immigration officer as officers make an arrest Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)

A federal immigration officer deploys pepper spray as officers make an arrest Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)

A family member, center, reacts after federal immigration officers make an arrest Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)

Bystanders are treated after being pepper sprayed as federal immigration officers make an arrest Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)

A family member reacts after federal immigration officers make an arrest Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)

Federal agents look on after detaining a person during a patrol in Minneapolis, Minn., Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (Christopher Katsarov/The Canadian Press via AP)

Bystanders react after a man was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents during a traffic stop, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Robbinsdale, Minn. (AP Photo/John Locher)

People stand near a memorial at the site where Renee Good was fatally shot by an ICE agent, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Jen Golbeck)

A man looks out of a car window after being detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents during a traffic stop, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Robbinsdale, Minn. (AP Photo/John Locher)

Border Patrol agents detain a man, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)

People shout toward Border Patrol agents making an arrest, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)

Demonstrators protest outside the White House in Washington, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, against the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent who fatally shot Renee Good in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey holds a news conference on Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Jen Golbeck)

Protesters react as they visit a makeshift memorial during a rally for Renee Good, who was fatally shot by an ICE officer earlier in the week, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)