NOW: With A Needle In His Arm, Death Row Inmate Has Execution Called Off
The Most Dramatic Podcast Ever
iHeartPodcasts
4.3 • 3.7K Ratings
🗓️ 21 May 2026
⏱️ 24 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Death row inmate Tony Carruthers was scheduled to die by lethal injection this morning in Tennessee. The execution was initially delayed as officials awaited the Supreme Court’s decision on an ACLU emergency filing asking for a stay of execution to test DNA from the case. Once SCOTUS denied the request, medical personnel spent an hour and a half looking for a suitable vein for a backup line and could not find one. Officials then called off the execution and as we recorded this episode, the Governor issued a reprieve for Carruthers for one year.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This is an I-Heart podcast. |
| 0:02.6 | Guaranteed Human. |
| 0:06.1 | Hey there, folks. |
| 0:07.0 | It is Thursday, May 21st, and a breaking story this afternoon. |
| 0:11.8 | We thought we'd be hopping on to tell you about the last words of a man on death row. |
| 0:18.3 | Instead, we found out he is going to live another day, or maybe is it just |
| 0:25.5 | another few hours. With that, welcome to this episode of Amy and T.J. We have been following what |
| 0:31.8 | was an extraordinary couple of days in the United States. Three executions scheduled over |
| 0:35.9 | two days. One was yesterday in Arizona, |
| 0:38.2 | Rome's another one was supposed to be this morning in Tennessee. It has not gone through, |
| 0:47.0 | and it's not because any court intervened. This is not what we expected to happen. |
| 1:00.7 | In fact, Tony Carruthers' execution was scheduled for 10 a.m. local time. |
| 1:04.0 | That's near Memphis, Tennessee, so central time, correct? And it was delayed while folks waited to hear what the Supreme Court was going to do. |
| 1:11.8 | They were waiting to see if the Supreme Court would make a decision on an emergency stay |
| 1:18.0 | that was requested by the ACLU. |
| 1:21.2 | The High Court said, nope, we deny it. |
| 1:24.8 | So the execution can go on as planned. |
| 1:28.2 | So now we think, okay, the execution is going to take place. |
| 1:31.5 | But hold up. |
| 1:33.6 | There were some and a major complication that ensued. |
| 1:40.0 | As they were allowed to proceed, suddenly they couldn't find a vein. Literally, they spent an |
| 1:47.6 | hour and a half, according to folks who were there behind the scenes, an hour and a half looking |
... |
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