Tennessee authorities halt the scheduled execution of death row inmate Tony Carruthers and grant him a one-year reprieve after medical personnel struggle to establish an intravenous line needed for the lethal injection protocol. Multiple outlets report the state department of corrections called off the Thursday execution after staff could not find a vein to set a required backup injection line, even as a primary IV line was established quickly. The Tennessee Department of Corrections states that although a primary line was set, the team was unable to immediately establish a backup line “pursuant to the lethal injection execution protocol.” Reports also indicate that staff spent more than an hour trying to establish the backup line before the execution was stopped. According to coverage from outlets including the Associated Press and major newspapers, Carruthers’ legal representatives describe the episode as having involved difficulty and delay during the attempted procedure. Carruthers is convicted of kidnapping and murdering three people in 1994. Gov. Bill Lee grants a one-year stay of execution following the halt.