Tennessee | Man set to be executed files motion claiming DNA evidence will exonerate him

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Attorneys for death row inmate Tony Carruthers filed a motion in Shelby County Criminal Court seeking immediate DNA testing on evidence they claim will prove his innocence in a 1994 triple murder.

Carruthers is scheduled for execution on May 12. He was convicted and sentenced to death for the kidnapping and murders of 24-year-old Marcellos Anderson, 17-year-old Delois Anderson, and 21-year-old Frederick Scarborough. Prosecutors at trial alleged the victims were buried alive in a Memphis cemetery as part of a drug-related robbery.

The push for DNA testing centers on several key pieces of evidence found at the burial site in Rose Hill Cemetery. According to the motion, several items of clothing and biological material were collected by investigators in 1994 but never underwent testing that is standard in modern forensics.

Specifically, the defense is seeking to test hair samples found on the victims and ligatures used to bind them. Attorneys argue that because the victims were buried alive in a shallow grave, any foreign DNA found on their bodies or clothing would likely belong to the actual perpetrators. This testing is being pursued under the Tennessee Post-Conviction DNA Analysis Act, which allows inmates to request forensic testing if it has the potential to prove "actual innocence."

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has joined the effort to secure this testing, providing legal resources to ensure the evidence is processed before the May execution date. The organization argues that the state should not proceed with an execution while potentially exonerating evidence remains untested.

This legal maneuver is a response to the "unreliable" nature of the 1996 trial testimony. The defense contends that without physical evidence linking Carruthers to the scene, the conviction rests primarily on the word of witnesses who had incentives to cooperate with the prosecution. Modern genetic testing could provide the objective data necessary to either confirm the jury's verdict or identify a third party whose DNA matches the crime scene samples.

“There has never been any physical evidence linking Mr. Carruthers to the crime and the case against him was built on testimony from jailhouse informants, widely known to be one of the leading causes of wrongful convictions,” the ACLU said in a press release on April 9.

“Testing did not reveal any DNA matches to co-defendant Montgomery or Mr. Carruthers on the evidence,” the motion said. “A majority of the samples were either too small to produce a profile under 2003 technology, were inconclusive, or matched the victims. However, there was one robust male profile on a white blanket that was buried with the victims.”

That DNA sample remains unidentified, according to the motion.

The case has been marked by decades of procedural complexity. Carruthers famously chose to represent himself during his original trial, a process characterized by frequent disruptions and clashes with the bench. In the years following his conviction, his legal team has challenged the testimony of jailhouse informants and raised questions regarding the integrity of the initial investigation.

State prosecutors have not yet filed a formal response to the motion, but they have historically maintained that the evidence against Carruthers is overwhelming. If the court denies the request for testing, Carruthers’ legal team is expected to appeal to the Tennessee Supreme Court and eventually seek clemency from the governor.

Tennessee has faced ongoing scrutiny over its lethal injection protocols, which led to a temporary moratorium on executions in 2022. Should the May execution proceed, it would be the state's first since the resumption of capital punishment proceedings following an independent review of those protocols.

Source: DPN, News outlets, Staff, AI, April 18, 2026

"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed,
but by the punishments that the good have inflicted."
— Oscar Wilde

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