(AL.com) An Alabama death row inmate scheduled to be executed Thursday night has been granted an emergency stay, and the Alabama attorney general’s office is appealing to the nation’s highest court.
Domineque Ray’s execution is set for 6 p.m. Thursday at Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore, nearly 20 years after he was convicted of killing 15-year-old Tiffany Harville in Selma. On Wednesday afternoon, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals granted Ray’s request for an emergency stay regarding an appeal centering on Ray’s religious freedom.
Wednesday evening, the AG’s office asked the U.S. Supreme Court to vacate the stay and allow the execution to go on as planned.
Ray’s lawyers filed a lawsuit last month claiming Ray’s religious freedom was being violated because the Alabama Department of Corrections would not allow his Muslim spiritual adviser to be in the execution chamber.
