Death Penalty News

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.

A jury voted 10-2 in favor of a life sentence for Tiffany Cole, sparing her the ultimate punishment for the kidnapping and murder of a Jacksonville couple. JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A 12-member jury voted 10-2 to spare the life of a woman convicted in Jacksonville’s notorious “buried alive” case.  The jury found Tiffany Cole did not deserve the ultimate punishment for her role in the crime.  Tiffany Cole, 41, was previously convicted of murdering Reggie and Carol Sumner in July 2005. The 61-year-olds were kidnapped from their Jacksonville home, bound in duct tape, and driven to a remote wood in South Georgia, where they were buried alive.