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The execution of a Tennessee death row inmate convicted of kidnapping and killing three people was called off Thursday after the execution team tried and failed for over an hour to establish an intravenous line.
The state won’t try to execute Tony Carruthers for at least a year, Gov. Bill Lee announced. The Tennessee Department of Correction said medical personnel had quickly established a primary IV line but were unable to find a suitable vein for a backup line, which is required by the state’s execution protocol.
After efforts to insert a central line also failed, officials called off the execution. Maria DeLiberato, an attorney for Carruthers, said she saw him “wincing and groaning” while officials attempted to find a vein, calling it “horrible” to watch.
At the time of the governor’s reprieve, DeLiberato was addressing reporters and began crying upon hearing the news.
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Tonya Carruthers closes her eyes in prayer with other protesters against the execution of Tony Carruthers at the Tennessee Capitol in Nashville, Tenn., on Monday, May 18, 2026. Carruthers’ execution was halted Thursday after the execution team tried and failed for over an hour to establish an intravenous line. (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)
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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.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.