Anthony Darrell Hines executed in Nashville by lethal injection

What This Story Is About

• Anthony Darrell Hines was executed at the Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville on Thursday morning for the 1985 murder of Catherine Jean Jackson Jenkins.

Why It Matters

• Hines’ execution comes after repeated attempts to receive clemency or postponement due to the failed execution of Tony Carruthers in May.

For Context

• The state’s protocol for administering the lethal cocktail has come under scrutiny in recent years, following the seemingly painful execution of Byron Black in August 2025 and the botched injection of Tony Carruthers in May 2026.

Catch Up

• TN governor puts off Tony Carruthers’ execution for 1 year after failed lethal injection
• Byron Black executed in Tennessee

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV) - Despite numerous attempts at clemency and reprieve, convicted murderer Anthony Darrell Hines was executed in Nashville on Thursday morning.

Hines’ death came through lethal injection at the Riverbend Maximum Security Institution at approximately 10 a.m.

Hines was declared dead at 10:43 a.m. He had no last words to offer, initially, but before the injection said, “Tell my son I love him,” according to a witness.

Katherine Dix, Hines’ attorney, released this statement after the execution:

“I’d like to start by saying that I grieve for the family of Catherine Jean Jenkins. May God be with you,” Dix said. “I also grieve the violence the State of Tennessee inflicted on us all today. On Darrell, of course, who was poisoned to death, just moments ago. On those of us required by our jobs to stand passively and watch Darrell be murdered. On the prison guards and officials whose jobs require them to participate. On Darrell’s son, who met Darrell four days ago for the first time and watched him die this morning. What we witnessed here today is not normal, and I urge us all to not become numb or indifferent to the cruelty.”

Dennis Jenkins, the son of Katherine Jean Jenkins, the woman who Hines killed, had a few words for attorneys who defend death row inmates.

“For those of you who may be concerned as to whether or not this animal suffered, let me tell you what he did to my mother 41 years ago,” Dennis said. “...yes, I hope he did suffer. I hope he felt severe pain...to those hot-shot attorneys out there that are trying to make a name for yourselves by defending these cold-blooded murderers...I don’t understand your mentality.”

Thursday’s execution in Nashville moved forward despite numerous attempts by Hines’ legal representation to save his life - the last of which came this week in the form of a request for clemency from the Tennessee governor.

Gov. Bill Lee chose not to intervene in the execution of Darrell Hines, and released this statement on Tuesday:

“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.”

What happened during Carruthers’ execution?

Hines’ execution marks the first in Tennessee since the botched attempt of Tony Carruthers at the end of May.

Attorneys for Hines, as well as dozens of medical professionals, expressed concern that the same doctor who botched the execution of Carruthers will be the one to perform Hines’ lethal injection.

Carruthers was scheduled to die by lethal injection on the morning of May 21 at Riverbend, but the doctor was unable to establish the required “backup line” to accompany the primary injection. The Tennessee Department of Corrections reported that once the procedure failed, “the execution was then called off,” and Carruthers was returned to his cell.

Gov. Lee then granted Carruthers a “temporary reprieve from execution for one year.”

Why was Darrell Hines sentenced to death?

Hines was convicted of first-degree felony murder for the 1985 killing of Catherine Jean Jackson Jenkins.

According to court documents, Jenkins was a maid at the CeBon Motel off Interstate 40 in Kingston Springs when, on March 3, 1985, her body was found wrapped in a sheet in one of the motel rooms. Her clothes had been moved so she was exposed, and her undergarments had been cut and taken off her body.

It was determined that she had been stabbed multiple times in the chest and other parts of her body.

You can read more of the background on the case HERE.

Editor’s note: This story has been updated to reflect the correct spelling of Catherine Jean Jackson Jenkins.