Death row inmate Tony Carruthers won't face execution for at least a year after IV line failure in Tennessee

This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. ©2026 FOX News Network, LLC. All rights reserved. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. Market data provided by Factset. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. Legal Statement. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by LSEG. Fox News Flash top headlines are here. Check out what's clicking on FoxNews.com. The execution of a Tennessee death row inmate convicted of kidnapping and killing three people was called off Thursday after the execution team tried and failed for over an hour to establish an intravenous line. The state won't try to execute Tony Carruthers for at least a year, Gov. Bill Lee announced. The Tennessee Department of Correction said medical personnel had quickly established a primary IV line but were unable to find a suitable vein for a backup line, which is required by the state’s execution protocol. After efforts to insert a central line also failed, officials called off the execution. Maria DeLiberato, an attorney for Carruthers, said she saw him "wincing and groaning" while officials attempted to find a vein, calling it "horrible" to watch. At the time