Tony Carruthers had been scheduled to be executed on May 21 at 10 a.m. for his role in the murders of Delois Anderson, Marcellos Anderson and Frederick Tucker in Memphis in 1994. But the execution was ultimately halted.

According to court testimony, Carruthers allegedly worked with brothers James and Jonathan Montgomery in a plot targeting Marcellos Anderson, who prosecutors described as a major drug dealer in Memphis.

Authorities said the group kidnapped the victims before taking them to a cemetery and burying their bodies beneath the coffin of Dorothy Daniels.

Prosecutors alleged the men dug beneath the existing grave before strangling or shooting the three victims and burying them underneath it. A medical examiner later testified that, despite suffering gunshot wounds and strangulation injuries, the victims had been buried alive.

Jonathan Montgomery – the brother of Carruthers’ co-defendant James Montgomery – reportedly led investigators to the grave site and accused both men of being involved in the killings. He later died by suicide before the case went to trial.

Tony Carruthers on death row
Carruthers’ execution had been scheduled for Thursday, but repeated attempts to establish the IV lines required under Tennessee protocol ultimately failed. Medical staff were reportedly able to establish an initial IV line, but could not secure the required backup line.

In a statement, the Tennessee Department of Correction said: “The team continued to follow the protocol, but could not find another suitable vein,” according to UNILAD. “The team attempted to insert a central line pursuant to the protocol, but the procedure was unsuccessful. The execution was then called off.”

Medical staff then attempted to place a central line into a major vein, but that attempt also failed. According to attorneys representing Carruthers, the process lasted roughly one hour and 20 minutes.

Maria DeLiberato, senior counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union’s Capital Punishment Project, said Carruthers experienced significant pain during the procedure and described feeling like he was being “stabbed.” DeLiberato later described the failed execution attempt as “torture,” according to UNILAD.

“This injustice turned barbaric”
The local anesthetic reportedly used during the procedure had also not fully taken effect before the attempts began. Casey Stubbs, director of the ACLU’s Capital Punishment Project, called the incident “barbaric.”

“Permitting Tony Carruthers’ execution without ordering DNA testing was a grave injustice,” Stubbs said in a statement, according to the Commercial Appeal. “This injustice turned barbaric when Tennessee’s efforts to set an IV line for the lethal drugs failed and the executioners continued to press forward anyway with the botched execution.”

Following the failed execution attempt, Bill Lee issued a one-year reprieve delaying Carruthers’ execution. The decision was welcomed by advocates who have long argued that Carruthers is innocent.

“I am so grateful that we are going to have a chance to prove what we’ve been saying and what Tony has been saying for 30 years, that he didn’t commit this crime,” DeLiberato said. “I cannot wait to tell his family.”

Carruthers’ attorneys have long argued there was limited physical evidence directly connecting him to the murders.