Tennessee executed Anthony “Darrell” Hines on Thursday morning.
He was convicted of murder for the 1985 killing of Catherine Jean Jenkins.
“For four decades, our family has endured the unimaginable pain and grief of her death,” her daughter, Melissa Jenkins, said in a press conference afterward. “While today does not bring closure, nor does it bring my mother back, it does finally bring justice. Our focus remains on honoring her memory and finding peace.”
Continuing coverage: Lethal injection in Tennessee
Ahead of execution day, attorneys for Hines asked several courts to intervene, citing extensive health problems. They argued carrying out the death penalty would be “grotesque.” In a written statement after the execution, one of his attorneys, Katherine Dix, reiterated that perspective.
“The leaders of this state repeatedly invoke the sanctity of life, but today the State put to death a man who was blind and paralyzed on his left side, could not walk, and was in constant pain,” the statement reads in part. “They lifted his body onto a gurney and wheeled him to the death chamber. May God have mercy on us all.”
This was the first capital punishment carried out since the Tennessee Department of Correction tried and failed to deliver a lethal injection in May.
During that incident, the medical staff failed to place an IV into Tony Carruthers’ arms, and the doctor on staff failed to place a central line.
Hines’ legal team raised several concerns about similar complications in his execution.
However, the preparation process appeared to go according to plan.
Updates from Riverbend
Under the state’s lethal injection protocol, the prisoner is removed from the cell at 10 a.m. Then, they’re strapped to a gurney and taken to the death chamber. There are two viewing bays looking into the death chamber. One of them holds official media witnesses, which typically includes a representative from WPLN.
While a curtain obscures the viewing windows between the chamber and witness bays, the medical team places IVs and begins a saline flow. That is to prepare for the flow of the lethal drug pentobarbital. Then, the curtain opens. That process typically takes about half an hour.
On Thursday, the curtain opened at 10:30. There appeared to be the typical IVs placed in each of Hines’ arms.
Attorneys are allowed in the death chamber during that time, and it’s typical for them to explain what happened in a press conference after the execution. Hines’ attorneys didn’t do so.
Hines declined to offer last words. There is a microphone in the chamber that pipes sound into the witness bays. They picked up comments Hines was making to his spiritual adviser, who was in the room with him. But a series of strokes over the past year has left him paralyzed on the left side, which complicated his speech. They were difficult to make out.
Four minutes after the curtain opened, Hines let out an abrupt, loud groan. He took several breaths afterward that were loud and ragged. Within roughly a minute, there was no chest movement visible.
In a motion to a federal court, Hines attorneys argued that the series of strokes left his left arm and left hand clenched. They said straightening the limb for the lethal injection would cause him severe pain.
Because Hines and his gurney were positioned perpendicular to the eye line of witnesses, with his head on the left and feet on the right, it was impossible to see the left side of his body. Workers at Riverbend Maximim Security Institution cover the prisoner with a blanket.
During executions in 2025, the blanket was pulled up roughly waist-high, so a hand would be visible. They were often wrapped in kinesiology tape. But in recent executions, including Hines, a blanket has been pulled up to the elbow, obscuring the hands.
Leading up to the execution
This week, two courts had the opportunity to halt the execution: the federal court in Middle Tennessee and the U.S. Supreme Court. On Thursday morning, both courts declined to intervene.
Gov. Bill Lee announced Tuesday he personally would not prevent the execution.
“After deliberate consideration of Anthony Darrell Hines’ 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,” he said in a written statement.
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