NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — An attorney present for the planned execution of Tony Carruthers in Tennessee on Thursday said the procedure was called off after officials struggled for an hour to find a suitable vein.
Maria DeLiberato, an attorney for Carruthers, reported seeing him “wincing and groaning” during the attempt, describing the experience as “horrible” to witness. An email to a spokesperson for the state corrections department was not immediately returned.
States have repeatedly faced challenges with lethal injections, leading to halted executions. In Idaho in 2024, medical teams tried eight times to establish an IV line for Thomas Creech before abandoning the effort. Subsequently, Idaho Governor Brad Little signed a law making firing squad the primary execution method. In Alabama, Governor Kay Ivey paused executions for several months after the lethal injection of Kenneth Eugene Smith was called off in 2022, marking the third time since 2018 that Alabama had failed to carry out an execution due to IV line problems.
Background on Carruthers Case
Carruthers, 57, was sentenced to death for the 1994 kidnappings and murders of Marcellos Anderson, his mother Delois Anderson, and Frederick Tucker. He represented himself at trial after repeatedly complaining about court-appointed attorneys and threatening to harm them. No physical evidence tied Carruthers to the killings; his conviction relied primarily on testimony from individuals who claimed he confessed or discussed the crimes.
One key witness was later revealed to be a police informant who admitted being paid for his testimony. Co-defendant James Montgomery, originally sentenced to death alongside Carruthers, was resentenced and released from prison in 2015, according to court filings. Authorities alleged that Marcellos Anderson was a drug dealer and that Carruthers sought to take over the illegal drug trade in their Memphis neighborhood.
Carruthers' attorneys argue that his “paranoia and delusions” prevented him from cooperating with counsel, but the judge deemed his behavior willful. The Tennessee Supreme Court noted on appeal that Carruthers' actions were offensive and self-destructive, but the situation was of his own making. His legal team has attempted to prove he is incompetent for execution, claiming in filings that Carruthers believes the government is bluffing to coerce a plea deal and that he is owed millions of dollars. He is convinced his attorneys are part of a conspiracy and refuses to speak with them.
Trends in U.S. Executions
The number of executions in the United States surged from 25 in 2024 to 47 last year, driven largely by a sharp increase in Florida, which carried out 19 executions in 2025, up from one the previous year, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. So far this year, four states have executed 13 people, with 11 more executions scheduled, including one on Thursday evening in Florida.
Executions often occur in clusters. Last year, four people were executed over three days in March in Oklahoma, Florida, Louisiana, and Arizona. Another five were executed over a week in October in Arizona, Mississippi, Missouri, Florida, and Indiana, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.
Tennessee resumed executions last year after a three-year pause prompted by the discovery that the state was not properly testing lethal injection drugs for purity and potency. An independent review 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 officials responsible for overseeing the drugs “incorrectly testified” under oath that testing was conducted as required.
