Tony Von Carruthers got a one-year reprieve from his execution Thursday after what critics are calling a “botched” execution.
Carruthers was convicted of killing three people in Shelby County in 1994. Court documents say he buried them alive at Rose Hill Cemetery on Elvis Presley Boulevard.
Carruthers was being prepped for execution at Riverbend Maximum Security Prison in Nashville Thursday. But the execution ran into problems.
Here’s a statement from the Tennessee Department of Correction (TDOC):
“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.
“The team continued to follow the protocol, but could not find another suitable vein. The team attempted to insert a central line pursuant to the protocol, but the procedure was unsuccessful. The execution was then called off.”
For this Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee said, “I am granting Tony Von Carruthers a temporary reprieve from execution for one year.”
The ACLU cited legal witnesses that said Carruthers groaned in pain and that the execution was halted after nearly 90 minutes.
Death-penalty critics were quick to respond.
“Today’s botched execution attempt of Tony Carruthers is horrifying but not surprising,” said Stacy Rector, executive director of Tennesseans for Alternatives to the Death Penalty (TADP). “TADP has sounded the alarm for years about the serious problems with lethal injection and urged our state toward greater transparency so these problems can be addressed.”
Laura Porter, executive director for the U.S. Campaign to End the Death Penalty, said “Tennessee has effectively made the case against the death penalty.”
“They forced Tony Carruthers to represent himself at his own capital trial, failed to test DNA and fingerprint evidence, and now they have failed to execute him,” Porter said. “It is time to end the death
The ACLU called it a “botched and torturous attempt to execute Tony Carruthers despite the state’s continued refusal to conduct forensic testing that could prove he was wrongfully convicted.”
This morning, Tennessee carried out a botched and torturous attempt to execute Tony Carruthers despite the state’s continued refusal to conduct forensic testing that could prove he was wrongfully convicted.
Maria DeLiberato, senior counsel at the ACLU’s Capital Punishment Project, said it was “profound injustice.”
“Today, that injustice became outright barbaric after Mr. Carruthers was subject to a botched execution attempt,” DeLiberato said. “We are incredibly relieved Governor Lee issued a reprieve.
“We will fight to ensure that the state never again attempts to put Mr. Carruthers and his family through this torture. More than 130,000 people have signed petitions joining us in this fight, including exonerees who once faced wrongful convictions themselves.
“We will also continue to push the governor to use this moment to allow the forensic testing that should have happened long ago. Tennessee cannot continue torturing a man while refusing to answer serious questions about his innocence.”