‘Botched’ lethal injection causing health issues for Tony Carruthers, his family and attorneys say
Rafiah Muhammad-McCormick, director of community outreach for Tennesseans for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, speaks at a press conference held by family members, friends, clergy members and supporters of Tony Carruthers on May 18, before hand delivering boxes containing a petition asking to stop the death row inmate’s execution to Gov. Bill Lee’s office at the Tennessee State Capitol Building in Nashville. Photo by Madison Thorn for MLK50
Tony Carruthers, a Memphis man on death row, is experiencing mental and physical health complications after the Tennessee Department of Corrections botched its lethal injection attempt, Carruthers’ family and attorneys told MLK50: Justice Through Journalism.
“I think he is still in trauma,” said a member of Carruthers’ family. “He’s not communicating like he used to. He’s still struggling to walk and can’t use his right hand.” MLK50 agreed to the source’s request not to be named while the family continues to process Carruthers’ current health status.
TDOC tried to execute Carruthers on May 21, but medical staff could not find a suitable vein to complete the lethal injection procedure. Gov. Bill Lee canceled the execution after medical staff spent more than an hour trying to insert IV lines in various places in Carruthers’ body — including his arms, feet, neck, chest and shoulder area.
During the execution attempt, Carruthers complained of pain, and his blood began backing up into the lines, said his attorney Maria DeLiberato. She is the only person who witnessed medical staff try to give Carruthers the lethal injection.
Six reporters, including one from MLK50, were allowed to witness the execution, but TDOC kept the curtains between the witness room and execution chamber closed the entire time. Instead, reporters heard someone groaning in pain during the procedure.
DeLiberato, an attorney who works for the ACLU’s Capital Punishment Project, requested that Carruthers receive a medical exam after the execution was canceled.
“(The prison medical staff) tried to kill (Carruthers), so he’s not trying to see them,” his family member said.
Ignoring professional medical advice
A supporter carries one of the boxes containing a petition asking Gov. Bill Lee to stop the execution of Carruthers. Photo by Madison Thorn for MLK50
TDOC denied attorneys’ requests for an outside medical doctor to examine Carruthers, despite recommendations to do so, court records show.
“In my professional opinion, Mr. Carruthers should have been given a chest X-ray immediately following the unsuccessful central IV-line insertion attempts,” Sina Khoshbin, a Detroit-based surgeon and professor, stated in a court document included in a prisoner civil rights lawsuit filed by Carruthers’ attorneys on May 21.
When central IV lines are incorrectly placed, people can experience “life-threatening complications,” like blood pooling or air leaking into the empty cavity between the lungs and the chest wall, Khoshbin warned.
These conditions can happen if the central line is inserted multiple times, by an inexperienced doctor or without the assistance of an ultrasound. “(All) three circumstances were present in Mr. Carruthers’ case,” Khoshbin wrote.
Court records confirm Mark Fowler, a board-certified medical doctor based in Union City, Tennessee, was involved in Carruthers’ lethal injection attempt and tried to insert the central line. However, in a deposition from a 2025 lawsuit, Fowler stated that he did not have any hospital privileges and had not placed a central line since 2013.
When MLK50 contacted Fowler, he responded: “I am not interested in speaking to reporters …The matter is in litigation, and (TDOC representatives) have asked me not to comment.”
The American Medical Association Code of Medical Ethics states that while “(an) individual’s opinion on capital punishment is the personal moral decision of the individual … a physician must not participate in a legally authorized execution.”
Kenneth Nelsen, the warden of Riverbend Maximum Security Institution, said Carruthers “received medical care (after) the execution attempt” and “will continue to be monitored,” court records show. There are 41 people incarcerated on death row at Riverbend — 21 of whom are from Shelby County.
When asked about Carruthers’ condition in the aftermath of the botched execution, Lee’s office did not reply to repeated emails, and a TDOC spokesperson said the department is “unable to provide a response.”
On June 12, the ACLU confirmed Carruthers is still experiencing physical health issues. “We are still fighting to get an outside doctor in to see him,” a spokesperson said.
Brittany Brown is the public safety reporter for MLK50: Justice Through Journalism. Email her at brittany.brown@mlk50.com
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