A Florida inmate on Monday asked the U.S. Supreme Court to stay his execution scheduled for Thursday.
Edward James, 63, pleaded guilty to the murder of a woman and raping and killing her 8-year-old-granddaughter in Seminole County in 1993.
Appeals to delay his lethal injection were rejected by the Florida Supreme Court and a federal appeals court.
In the appeals, James’ attorney has cited “cognitive decline” and whether executing him would violate the constitutional ban on cruel and unusual punishment.
“The issues present in the instant case require appellate review that is not truncated by the exigencies of an imminent execution,” wrote James’ attorney, Dawn Macready.
James’ execution is slated for 6 p.m. Thursday at the Florida State Prison in Starke.
James said that he attacked 8-year-old Toni Neuner, who was staying at the home of her grandmother Betty Dick, before he murdered the 58-year-old woman. James had been renting a room in Dick's home.
According to court records, James raped the child before throwing her body across the room, causing internal injuries, and then killed her by strangulation. James then went to Dick’s bedroom and stabbed her more than 20 times with two knives, records show.
Gov. Ron DeSantis signed James’ death warrant on Feb. 1.
The execution would be the state's second this year. James Dennis Ford was put to death for the murder of a couple in 1997 in Charlotte County. Another inmate, Michael Tanzi, 48, is schedule for execution April 8 for the kidnapping and murder of a Miami woman.
