Tennessee Execution Halted After Failed Lethal Injection Attempt

Tennessee called off the execution of death row inmate Tony Carruthers on Thursday after staff failed to find a suitable vein for a second IV line, a required step under state lethal injection protocol.

Carruthers, 48, was convicted of kidnapping and murdering three people in 1994 and was scheduled to die by lethal injection at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution.

The Tennessee Department of Correction said its medical team successfully established a primary IV line but could not locate a second vein for a backup line, as mandated by execution procedures.

Governor Bill Lee subsequently granted Carruthers a temporary reprieve, postponing the execution for one year.

“After the team began the protocol and found the first IV site, the team continued to follow the protocol, but could not find another suitable vein,” the corrections department said in a statement.

“The team attempted to insert a central line pursuant to the protocol, but the procedure was unsuccessful. The execution was then called off,” the statement continued.

Carruthers was convicted in 1996 for the kidnap and murder of Marcellos Anderson, his mother Delois Anderson, and Frederick Tucker.

The victims were beaten, shot, and buried alive in a Memphis cemetery.

Carruthers’ case has drawn national attention, with advocates including the American Civil Liberties Union arguing his trial was flawed, notably because he was forced to represent himself.

Carruthers himself has consistently maintained his innocence.

“His trial was riddled with errors. He was denied legal counsel. There was no physical evidence linked to him,” the ACLU said in a press release demanding the “wrongful execution” be halted.

“The evidence against him that was presented at trial came from informants who have since recanted their statements or been discredited,” the ACLU added.

The nonprofit group collected more than 130,000 signatures calling for the execution to be stopped to allow for fingerprint and DNA testing.

Advocates delivered that petition to the governor’s office on Monday, but Lee announced the following day that the execution would proceed as planned.

Last week, Kim Kardashian urged her social media followers to contact the governor’s office and demand DNA testing “before it’s too late,” according to U.S. media.

In a clemency petition filed Wednesday, Carruthers’ attorneys argued that his mental state, resulting from schizoaffective disorder, bipolar type, and brain damage, renders him too impaired to be executed.

“These disorders manifest in current symptoms of unending, synergistic, and complex delusions that thwart a rational understanding of his imminent execution,” his lawyers argued.

Maria DeLiberato, senior counsel at the ACLU’s Capital Punishment Project, said the group will continue fighting for Carruthers.

“Tennessee cannot continue torturing a man while refusing to answer serious questions about his innocence,” DeLiberato said.