Billy Ray Irick, the first man executed in Tennessee in nearly a decade, said that he is “really sorry” for the 1985 rape and murder of a 7-year-old girl.
“The death sentence of Billy Ray Irick was executed by means of lethal injection on August 9, 2018 in accordance with the laws of the state of Tennessee. The sentence was carried out at the Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville. Irick was pronounced dead at 7:48 p.m.,” the Tennessee Department of Corrections said in a statement, confirming that the execution went through.
