NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Gov. Bill Lee has granted death row inmate Gary Wayne Sutton a reprieve that delays his execution until Oct. 7, 2027, after pausing all Tennessee executions following two failed lethal injection attempts this year.
Sutton was scheduled to be executed on Dec. 3. Lee signed the reprieve on Oct. 7 after Christa Gail Pike survived a Sept. 30 execution attempt and after Tony Carruthers in May. The governor ordered a third-party review of Pike’s case and halted executions for the rest of the year.
Sutton has been on death row since 1996 after convictions for the 1992 murders of Connie Branam and her brother, Tommy Griffin, in Blount County. Of four executions scheduled this year, only Anthony Darrell Hines was completed by lethal injection in August. Sutton was set to be the fourth until the pause.
The Tennessee Supreme Court is considering whether to hear evidence on Sutton’s claimed intellectual disability, which could make him ineligible for the death penalty under state and federal law. A court appearance expected this week was delayed while that appeal remains pending.
Pike’s attorneys have argued that Tennessee’s lethal injection protocol was shortened from 106 pages to just 44 and contained vague rules that could jeopardize the process. Sutton’s earlier October 2022 execution date was also halted when Lee paused executions so the Department of Correction could create a new lethal injection protocol.
Lee’s pause covers the remainder of 2026 while the independent review proceeds. Sutton’s new date of Oct. 7, 2027, pushes any possible execution past the current administration’s calendar and into next year’s review window.
