Tennessee executes man despite botched lethal injection that lasted over an hour

Anthony Darrell Hines, 66, is scheduled to be executed in Tennessee on Thursday, proceeding despite a catastrophically failed lethal injection of another prisoner just months earlier that lasted more than an hour before being abandoned.

Hines was convicted of the 1985 murder of Catherine Jean Jackson Jenkins, a motel maid and mother of four. He has maintained his innocence, though Jenkins' family has called for his execution to proceed. His lawyers have asked the US Supreme Court to intervene, arguing he could face a similar ordeal to the botched execution that preceded his.

The failed execution that preceded this one

On May 21, an IV team and physician spent roughly one hour and 15 minutes attempting to establish an intravenous line on Tony Carruthers during what was meant to be his execution. The team pierced Carruthers more than a dozen times, attempting to locate veins in his arms, hands, feet and shoulder. When they could not establish a central line in his jugular vein, the execution was paused and ultimately canceled. Tennessee's Republican governor Bill Lee granted Carruthers a one-year reprieve following the failed procedure.

Hines' medical vulnerabilities

Hines is very thin, has suffered significant muscular atrophy following recent strokes, and has stiffness in his arm that causes his hand to remain clenched in a fist—conditions that could complicate IV placement and raise the risk of a similar prolonged execution.

A rare convergence of executions

Thursday's execution of Hines is one of three scheduled to occur simultaneously across the United States—in Tennessee, Alabama and Oklahoma—marking the first time in nearly 16 years that three executions have been carried out on the same day in the country. The executions reflect a steep rise in capital punishment: there were 47 executions across 11 states in 2025, a marked increase from 25 executions in a prior year.

Secrecy and oversight concerns

Tennessee's execution procedures remain shrouded in secrecy. It is unclear how the state acquires, maintains and administers its lethal injection drugs, and attorneys have long warned that the lack of oversight could result in protracted, agonizing killings and botched procedures.