Content warning: This article mentions graphic details about an execution process that may be disturbing for some readers.
Tennessee officials halted the execution of 57-year-old death row inmate Tony Carruthers on Thursday. He was convicted of kidnapping and murdering three people in 1994. The lethal injection was called off after the medical team failed to establish the required IV line despite an hour of attempts.
In a written statement, the Tennessee Department of Corrections said officials connected the primary IV line. However, they could not find a suitable vein for the backup line required by the state’s execution rules. Officials reportedly tried to insert a central line as an option but failed, so they canceled the execution. Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee announced the state would not execute Tony Carruthers for at least another year.
According to The Daily Mail, Maria DeLiberato, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union, told reporters that the execution scene was “horrible” to watch. She said Carruthers kept “wincing and groaning” as officials tried to find his veins. Later, DeLiberato became emotional when she heard the execution was called off.
View this post on Instagram
“That’s amazing. I’m so grateful,” she added. The death row attorney, who has focused on these cases for nearly 20 years, has defended prisoners facing execution, including those convicted of horrific crimes.
She said she was inside the chamber when officials detected a vein in the death row inmate’s right shoulder. Shortly after, the prison warden received the call that the execution was halted.
According to reports, the attorney criticized lethal injection as one of the most “dishonest” methods of execution. She said that the pain levels in the process are much higher than other quicker methods, like firing squads. DeLiberato’s comments come amid a sharp rise in executions across the United States in 2025.
Under Tennessee law, viewers can watch the execution in the chamber until the IV insertion team finishes the process.
During Thursday’s execution attempt of Carruthers, media witnesses, including those from outlets like The Associated Press, reportedly sat in darkness for more than an hour. The blinds separating the witness room from the chamber stayed closed throughout. “There was a lot of blood,” Maria DeLiberato described the moment during Tony Carruthers’s attempted execution
Tennessee resumed executions in 2025 after a three-year halt following findings that the state had failed to properly test lethal injection drugs for purity and strength. An independent reviewer later said that none of the executions that were carried out under the state law since 2018 had undergone proper testing.
Tony Carruthers was convicted in connection with the 1994 kidnappings and murders of Marcellos Anderson, his mother Delois Anderson, and Frederick Tucker in Memphis. Prosecutors claimed Anderson was heavily involved in drug dealings, and Carruthers committed the crime to take control of the illegal drug trade in Marcello’s neighborhood.
View this post on Instagram
The trial was chaotic. The prosecution relied on witness testimony from people who said Carruthers had confessed to or discussed the murders. However, there was no physical evidence linked to the case. Later, Carruthers’s legal team claimed that he had serious mental health problems and his execution should be called off.
The Death Penalty Information Center said the case of Tony Carruthers has raised broader issues. These include mental illness, legal defense, possible innocence, and limited access to DNA testing.
“The state’s failed attempt today to execute him presents an additional issue surrounding the qualifications of the people tasked with executing prisoners,” the organization said in a statement.
