Tony Carruthers, a Tennessee death row inmate, was granted a last-minute reprieve after a lethal injection execution went horribly wrong – and witnesses reportedly heard disturbing sounds coming from the execution chamber before it was called off.
Tony Carruthers, who was convicted in connection with three murders in 1994, was scheduled to be executed last week. But the procedure was stopped after prison staff were unable to properly establish the IV lines required under Tennessee’s execution protocol. 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.”
Tony Carruthers’ failed execution
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.
The failed execution has sparked outrage – especially after details emerged about what witnesses inside the prison allegedly heard during the ordeal.
According to Commercial Appeal, one reporter in the witness room heard an unidentified man ask Carruthers to describe his pain and rate it on a scale from one to ten. Moments later, pained groans could reportedly be heard before officials ultimately stopped the execution.
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. “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.”
“This is not how our system is supposed to work”
Carruthers has long maintained his innocence, and supporters say the failed execution only intensified concerns surrounding the case.
Melanie Verdecia, Carruthers’ pro bono counsel, accused the state of “torturing a man who maintains his innocence in the name of justice.”
“This is not how our system is supposed to work,” she added.
Following the failed execution attempt, Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee issued a one-year reprieve delaying Carruthers’ execution – a decision welcomed by advocates, who have long argued that he’s 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,” Maria DeLiberato, senior counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union’s Capital Punishment Project, said, according to UNILAD. “I cannot wait to tell his family.”
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