Tony Carruthers’ execution stopped after corrections couldn’t set up a backup IV line
NBC News • • nation
Key Points:
- Tony Carruthers' execution in Tennessee was called off after correctional staff failed to establish a backup IV line for lethal injection, despite initially setting a primary line, according to the Tennessee Department of Correction (TDOC).
- Attorneys filed an emergency stay citing repeated unsuccessful attempts to find suitable veins for administering the lethal injection, with Carruthers currently off the gurney and undergoing medical assessment.
- Carruthers has maintained his innocence since his 1996 conviction for a 1994 triple murder, with his legal team arguing the state's case relied on a paid informant and lacked physical evidence linking him to the crime.
- Concerns were raised about the use of expired execution drugs, and Carruthers’ lawyers had requested post-conviction DNA testing to examine evidence against an alternate suspect, but the state denied the request.
- Tennessee resumed executions last year after a three-year moratorium related to drug testing issues; Carruthers was the first person scheduled for execution since the pause ended.