Today, Tuesday May 19, 2026 Tennessee Governor Bill Lee released the following statement regarding death row inmate Tony Von Carruthers: “After deliberate consideration of Tony Von Carruthers’ request for clemency, and after a thorough review of the case, I am upholding the sentence of the State of Tennessee and do not plan to intervene.”

Carruthers and James Montgomery, were each convicted of first degree murder for killing Marcellos “Cello” Anderson, his mother Delois Anderson, and Frederick Tucker in Memphis in February of 1994. All of the victims disappeared on the night of February 24, 1994. On March 3, 1994, their bodies were found buried together in a pit that had been dug beneath a casket in a grave in a Memphis cemetery.

Tennessee plans to execute Carruthers at the Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville. The execution is scheduled for 10:00 a.m. CDT (11 a.m. Eastern) on May 21, 2026, according to the Tennessee Department of Correction. Carruthers Victims pictured below