The Tennessee Supreme Court has halted executions for four death row inmates so a new protocol for lethal injections can be reviewed.
Convicted killer Stephen Michael West was set to die Tuesday night for the 1986 stabbing deaths of a mother and her 15-year-old daughter.
Earlier this month, the state’s high court granted West a temporary stay after he sued, claiming that prisoners executed by lethal injection experience unconstitutionally severe pain.
In response, the state added a new step requiring the prison warden to verify a condemned inmates is unconscious after the first drug is injected in the three-drug process.
The state Supreme Court now agrees with West’s attorneys that the new step needs to be reviewed in a lower court.