Tennessee fails to execute Tony Carruthers after IV difficulties. State
won't try again for a year
[May 22, 2026]
By TRAVIS LOLLER
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Tennessee officials on Thursday called off the
lethal injection of Tony Carruthers, who was convicted of kidnapping and
murdering three people in 1994, after his executioners tried and failed
for over an hour to establish an intravenous line. Gov. Bill Lee
announced soon afterward that the state would not try again for at least
a year.
In a written statement, the Tennessee Department of Corrections said
medical personnel had quickly established a primary IV line but were
unable to find a suitable vein for a backup line as required by the
state’s execution protocol. Efforts to insert a central line also
failed, and officials called off the execution.
Maria DeLiberato, an American Civil Liberties Union attorney
representing Carruthers, said she saw him “wincing and groaning” while
officials attempted to find a vein, calling it “horrible” to watch. An
Associated Press journalist was in attendance to observe the execution,
but a state rule contested by news organizations prohibits media
witnesses from observing the IV insertion.
DeLiberato was addressing reporters when the governor's office issued
the reprieve. She began crying.
“That’s amazing!” she said. “I’m so grateful!”
Since 2009, six other prisoners in three states — Alabama, Idaho and
Ohio — have had executions halted because of difficulties establishing
an IV, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. In Idaho in
2024, medical team members tried eight times to establish a line to
execute Thomas Creech, one of the nation’s longest-serving death row
inmates, before calling it off. Idaho Gov. Brad Little subsequently
signed a law making firing squad the state’s primary method of
execution.
In Alabama, Gov. Kay Ivey paused executions for several months after
officials called off the lethal injection of Kenneth Eugene Smith in
2022. It was the third time since 2018 Alabama had been unable to
conduct executions due to problems with IV lines.
“Tony Carruthers’ case raised serious concerns about mental illness,
representation, innocence, and access to DNA testing,” the Death Penalty
Information Center said in an emailed statement. “The state’s failed
attempt today to execute him presents an additional issue surrounding
the qualifications of the people tasked with executing prisoners.”
Witnesses had limited access to the execution attempt
Under Tennessee’s execution policies, blinds between the witness room
and the execution chamber are kept closed until the IV insertion team
has left. On Thursday, media witnesses sat in a dark room for over an
hour, but the blinds were never raised.
Witnesses did hear what sounded like groans through a crack beneath a
door connecting the two rooms.
DeLiberato, who was in the execution chamber, said that after
establishing an IV line in Carruthers’ right arm, medical personnel
tried his other arm, his left hand and his left foot before trying to
establish a central line.
Carruthers groaned as a doctor started pushing a needle in, she said.
She saw two or three puncture wounds: “There was a lot of blood.”
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Maria DeLiberato, attorney for death row inmate Tony Von Carruthers,
speaks to reporters after the execution of Carruthers was called off
because a suitable vein could not found as required by lethal
injection execution protocol Thursday, May 21, 2026, in Nashville,
Tenn. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)
Unable to establish a central line, the medical team accessed a vein
in his right shoulder before the warden received a phone call and
announced the execution was off, she said.
The Associated Press is part of a group of media organizations
fighting for witnesses to be allowed to see more of the execution
process, including the IV insertion.
Carruthers was convicted of killing 3 in Memphis
Carruthers, 57, was found guilty of the 1994 kidnappings and murders
of Marcellos Anderson; his mother, Delois Anderson; and Frederick
Tucker. Authorities said Marcellos Anderson was a drug dealer and
that Carruthers was trying to take over the illegal trade in their
Memphis neighborhood.
He was forced to represent himself at trial after repeatedly
complaining about court-appointed attorneys and threatening to harm
several of them.
There was no physical evidence tying Carruthers to the killings, and
he was convicted primarily on the basis of testimony from people who
claimed to have heard him confess to or discuss the crimes. The ACLU
said it would continue to push for DNA testing on evidence in the
case, saying it should have been done long ago.
Carruthers' attorneys have also argued that he has mental health
issues that render him incompetent to be executed.
Executions surged last year
The number of executions in the U.S. surged from 25 in 2024 to 47
last year, driven by a sharp increase in Florida. That state carried
out 19 executions in 2025, up from one the previous year, according
to the Death Penalty Information Center. Four states have carried
out 14 executions so far this year, including one Thursday evening
in Florida, and 10 more are scheduled.
Tennessee, which had its last execution in December, began a new
round last year after a three-year pause following the discovery
that the state was not properly testing lethal injection drugs for
purity and potency.
An independent review later found that none of the drugs prepared
for the seven inmates executed in Tennessee since 2018 had been
fully tested. The state attorney general’s office also conceded in
court that two of the people most responsible for overseeing
Tennessee’s lethal injection drugs “ incorrectly testified ” under
oath that officials were testing the chemicals as required.
___
Associated Press writers Gene Johnson in Seattle and Sudhin
Thanawala in Atlanta contributed.
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