Texas Inmate Set to Die Wednesday Gets Reprieve

The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals has stopped this week’s scheduled execution of a convicted killer whose mental health had become an issue in his appeals.

The state’s highest criminal court gave a reprieve Monday to 49-year-old Steven Staley. Staley was set for lethal injection Wednesday for the 1989 shooting death of a Fort Worth restaurant manager during a botched robbery.

Prosecutors contend Staley is competent for execution but the prisoner’s lawyer said that’s only because a judge ordered Staley be given drugs to make him competent.

Staley’s attorney also said the prisoner’s IQ of 70 likely meant he was mentally impaired and ineligible for execution under Supreme Court rulings.

Staley was an escapee from a Denver halfway house when 35-year-old restaurant manager Bob Read of Fort Worth was killed.

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Texas Inmate Set to Die Wednesday Gets Reprieve

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