Tennessee called off the execution of Tony Carruthers, convicted in the 1994 murders, after medical staff could not locate a suitable vein for lethal injection drugs. The failed procedure occurred Thursday morning at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution, where death penalty opponents had gathered outside.

Governor Bill Lee issued a one-year reprieve following emergency filings from Carruthers' legal team. The prisoner's case attracted attention because allies argued he was wrongfully convicted, citing mental health issues that impair his understanding of legal proceedings. The ACLU noted Carruthers would have been the first person in over a century executed after representing himself at trial.

Similar execution failures have plagued other states, with Alabama suspending executions from 2022-2023 after multiple unsuccessful attempts. These incidents prompted the Death Penalty Information Center to label 2022 as the "year of the botched execution."

States now increasingly authorize alternative methods like firing squad to address lethal drug procurement problems. South Carolina executed three people by firing squad in 2025, marking the first such executions since 2010. The repeated failures raise questions about execution protocols and state resources spent on these procedures.