ATMORE, Ala. (AP) — U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas has temporarily stopped the execution of a convicted killer in Alabama pending further action by the court.
Thomas issued the temporary stay shortly before the execution of Leroy White was scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. Thursday at Holman Prison in Atmore.
The temporary stay gives the court additional time to consider legal arguments in the case.
White was sentenced to die for the 1988 shotgun slaying of his estranged wife, Ruby. White fired while holding their 17-month-old daughter in his arms.
Alabama Gov. Bob Riley, the Alabama Supreme Court and a federal judge in Alabama declined to intervene in the execution earlier Thursday.
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