Texas' top criminal appeals court has halted the scheduled execution of inmate Rodney Reed, whose conviction is being questioned by new evidence that his supporters say raises serious doubt about his guilt.
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The stay of execution by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals on Friday came just hours after the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles had recommended delaying the lethal injection.
The 51-year-old Reed had been set for lethal injection Wednesday evening for the 1996 killing of 19-year-old Stacey Stites.
Prosecutors say Reed raped and strangled Stites as she made her way to work at a supermarket in Bastrop, a rural community about 50 kilometres southeast of Austin.
Reed's efforts to stop his execution have received support from such celebrities as Beyonce, Kim Kardashian and Oprah Winfrey.
Lawmakers from both parties, including Texas GOP Senator Ted Cruz, have also asked that officials take a closer look at the evidence in the case.
In its four-page order, the appeals court said Reed's case should be returned to the trial court in Bastrop County so it could examine his claims that he is innocent and that prosecutors suppressed evidence and presented false testimony.
The Texas Attorney General's Office declined to comment Friday on whether it would appeal the order staying Reed's execution.
Earlier Friday, the parole board had unanimously recommended a 120-day reprieve for Reed. The board rejected Reed's request to commute his sentence to life in prison.
The parole board's decision was to go next to Governor Greg Abbott, who hasn't said whether he would accept or reject it, or do nothing.
Since Texas resumed executions in 1982, only three death row inmates have had their sentences commuted to life in prison by a governor within days of their scheduled executions.
Reed has other appeals pending, including with the US Supreme Court. His supporters have held rallies, including an overnight vigil on Thursday in front of the Supreme Court in Washington, DC.
Reed has long maintained he didn't kill Stites and that her fiance, former police officer Jimmy Fennell, was the real killer. Reed says Fennell was angry because Stites, who was white, was having an affair with Reed, who is black.
Fennell's attorney has said his client didn't kill Stites. Fennell was paroled last year after serving time in prison for sexual assault.
Australian Associated Press