Failed Execution Attempt of Tony Von Carruthers

On May 21, 2026, Tennessee attempted to execute Tony Von Carruthers using lethal injection. The procedure became a documented example in the modern U.S. history of botched executions.

What happened

Execution personnel obtained a primary IV but spent about an hour and a half trying unsuccessfully to establish the backup line required by Tennessee’s protocol. The attempt was stopped and Governor Bill Lee issued a one-year reprieve.

Result

The immediate result was that Tony Von Carruthers survived after Tennessee could not establish the protocol’s required backup IV line. This is an important distinction in the broader history of execution failures: some botched procedures ultimately kill the prisoner after a prolonged or visibly problematic process, while others are abandoned and leave the prisoner alive.

Why the case is classified as botched

The Death Penalty Information Center’s historical compilation uses a research definition centered on breakdowns or departures from execution protocol that produce unanticipated problems, delays, possible unnecessary suffering, or gross operational incompetence. The Tony Von Carruthers case fits that framework because the intended lethal injection process did not proceed in the controlled manner the state expected.

Historical context

The event page is kept separate from the person profile so later work can attach the correct prison, execution protocol, court litigation, officials, method history and state-level death-penalty context without overloading the biography.

Sources

– Death Penalty Information Center — Botched Executions (case entry for Tony Von Carruthers)