Tennessee Prison Staff Struggled to Insert IV Lines During Scheduled Execution

Staff at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville attempted for more than 30 minutes on May 21 to place intravenous lines in Tony Carruthers before the scheduled execution was halted. , observed medical personnel using needles of varying sizes while Carruthers remained strapped to the gurney.

m. his breathing had become labored and his skin color had changed. DeLiberato asked the warden how long the attempt would continue; he replied that it would proceed until staff determined they could not succeed.

Background of the Case Carruthers, 57, was convicted in 1996 of the 1994 kidnapping and murder of Marcellos Anderson, Delois Anderson, and 17-year-old Frederick Tucker in Memphis. Prosecutors presented testimony from a paid informant who later recanted, stating he had been compensated to construct the account using police files.

No forensic evidence linking Carruthers to the crimes was introduced at trial. Carruthers represented himself after the court declined to appoint new counsel following the withdrawal of eight prior attorneys. Jurors submitted notes to the judge questioning his ability to proceed, citing behavior they found distracting.

He was sentenced to death along with co-defendant James Montgomery; Jonathan Montgomery died by suicide in jail. Montgomery’s conviction was later overturned on appeal because Carruthers’s self-representation affected his right to a fair trial. Montgomery accepted a plea agreement and was released in 2015.

Carruthers remains on death row while his appellate team seeks review of DNA evidence recovered from the scene.