Man avoids execution after medical staff fails to find a vein for lethal injection

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (WMC/Gray News) - A Memphis man was not executed on Thursday morning after staff had to call off the procedure.

Tony Carruthers was scheduled to die by lethal injection at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville.

According to a witness, medical personnel charged with administering the lethal drugs failed to find a vein. The staff attempted to locate a suitable vein for 1.5 hours before ultimately abandoning the attempt.

Carruthers was returned to his prison cell.

Reporters who were present said they were escorted to a dark room during the attempted execution, where they could hear the grunts of a man they assumed was Carruthers as staff was trying to find a vein.

It wasn’t until after the attempts to find a vein that reporters were told that it was a failed execution.

Carruther’s execution stems from a 1994 triple murder conviction. He was convicted of the kidnapping and murder of 17-year-old Frederick Tucker, 21-year-old Marcellous Anderson, and Anderson’s 43-year-old mother, Delores Anderson.

The three victims were subsequently buried in a freshly-dug grave at a South Memphis cemetery.

Carruthers has been on death row since April 1996.

Faith leaders, Carruthers’ family, and celebrity Kim Kardashian all urged Governor Bill Lee to pause the execution to allow DNA and fingerprint testing.

“Tennessee is about to execute Tony Carruthers without testing DNA and fingerprint evidence that could prove his innocence,” Kardashian previously shared in a social media post.

Protests also took place ahead of Thursday’s scheduled execution.

Last month, the Tennessee Court of Appeals denied a new petition for Carruthers, which would have delayed his execution until new forensic evidence in the case could be tested.