What Did Tony Carruthers Do? His Botched Execution Was Canceled

The Tennessee Department of Corrections botched an inmate's execution on May 21, 2026. Tony Carruthers was scheduled to be executed by lethal injection execution, but according to NBC News, the execution did not happen.

The Tennessee Department of Corrections attempted the execution, but it was abruptly put off, and the ACLU is calling what happened to Carruthers "barbaric."

Gov. Bill Lee announced following the botched attempt that Carruthers received a one-year reprieve from execution. So, what did Tony Carruthers do to end up in prison?

Carruthers was convicted of the kidnapping and murders of Marcellos Anderson, Delois Anderson, and Frederick Tucker back in 1994 after a failed robbery. Still, he said he is innocent and represented himself at trial after going through multiple lawyers.

The three bodies were found after being led to a grave by Jonathan Montgomery. James Montgomery and Carruthers then became suspects, and a cloth with blood was discovered in the grave with the bodies, but no physical evidence was found tying them to the scene.

Jonathan Montgomery was found hanged in his cell before the trial, and Carruthers and James Montgomery were tried together and found guilty of three counts of first-degree premeditated murder. They were sentenced to death in 1996.

Carruthers' current attorneys say his self-defense at trial was "inept, ineffective, and disastrous,” while adding that he was “mentally ill, irrational, and incompetent to stand trial” when he was arrested, and James Montgomery was granted a new trial based on Carruthers’ self-representation.

During the retrial, Montgomery requested DNA testing of the crime scene evidence. One month before Carruthers' execution attempt, ACLU attorneys filed a motion to have DNA testing done on unmatched fingerprints and other evidence of an alternative suspect.

Neither Carruthers nor Montgomery's DNA was a match, and the motion for post-conviction DNA testing was denied. Montgomery later agreed to a plea and was released in 2015.

The execution was halted because the medical personnel could not find a vein for the backup lethal injection line, per a statement from the Tennessee Department of Corrections.

“Medical personnel quickly established a primary IV line; however, the team was unable to immediately establish a backup line pursuant to the lethal injection execution protocol,” read the statement.

The TDOC statement added that after several unsuccessful attempts to find a second vein, the staff was not able to insert a central line, and "the execution was then called off."

The ACLU called the attempted execution "botched and torturous" while also noting that the DNA testing not being completed prior to the attempt is "a profound injustice," per News Channel 5.

“Permitting Tony Carruthers’s execution to move forward without ordering DNA testing was already a profound injustice,” said ACLU senior counsel Maria DeLiberato. “Today, that injustice became outright barbaric after Mr. Carruthers was subject to a botched execution attempt.”

Staffers at the prison reportedly tried for more than one hour to execute Carruthers as he winced and groaned.