The scheduled execution of a Tennessee death row inmate, convicted for the kidnapping and murder of three individuals, was abruptly halted on Thursday. This decision came after the execution team struggled for more than an hour to establish an intravenous line.
Governor Bill Lee announced that Tony Carruthers’ execution would be postponed for at least a year. The Tennessee Department of Correction reported that although medical staff initially succeeded in setting up a primary IV line, they were unable to locate a suitable vein for a backup line, a requirement under the state’s execution protocol.
When attempts to insert a central line also proved unsuccessful, officials decided to call off the execution. Maria DeLiberato, Carruthers’ attorney, described seeing him “wincing and groaning” during the vein-finding attempts, labeling the scene as “horrible” to witness.
DeLiberato was speaking to reporters at the time when she received news of the governor’s reprieve, and she began to cry upon hearing it.
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Tonya Carruthers, along with other protesters, was seen praying at the Tennessee Capitol in Nashville against Tony Carruthers’ execution, which was halted on Thursday after prolonged attempts to establish an intravenous line failed. (AP Images; Reuters)
“That’s amazing!” she said. “I’m so grateful!”
Carruthers was sentenced to death for the 1994 kidnappings and murders of Marcellos Anderson; his mother, Delois Anderson; and Frederick Tucker in Memphis. At trial, he was forced to represent himself after he repeatedly complained about his court-appointed attorneys and threatened to harm several of them.
Carruthers’ “paranoia and delusions” prevented him from being able to cooperate with court-appointed counsel, but the trial judge viewed this behavior as willful, his current attorneys said.
The conviction was based primarily on the testimony of individuals who claimed to have heard Carruthers confess to or discuss the crimes. No physical evidence tying him to the murders was presented at trial.
Prosecutors alleged that Anderson was a drug dealer and that Carruthers was attempting to take over the drug trade in his Memphis neighborhood. The witnesses who claimed to have heard Carruthers confess included a man who was later revealed to be a police informant, who subsequently told the media he was paid for his testimony.
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Tori Carruthers and Latobiya Carruthers close their eyes in prayer with other protesters against the execution of Tony Carruthers at the Tennessee Capitol in Nashville, Tenn., on May 18, 2026. (Reuters)
James Montgomery, a co-defendant, was originally sentenced to death alongside Carruthers, but was later resentenced and released from prison in 2015, according to court filings.
In their petition, Carruthers’s attorneys argued that he was sentenced to death largely because a medical examiner testified that the victims were buried alive. That claim was later withdrawn, and subsequent experts have stated it was false.
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In addition, his legal team argued that he was incompetent and should not be executed. Carruthers believed the government was bluffing about the execution in order to coerce him into accepting a plea deal that existed only in his mind, they claimed.
Protesters gather at the Tennessee Capitol in Nashville on May 18, 2026, to oppose the execution of Tony Carruthers. (Reuters)
By doing so, Carruthers believed the government could avoid paying him millions of dollars he thought he was owed.
He was convinced that his own attorneys were part of a conspiracy against him and refused to speak with them, according to court filings.
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