Supreme Court stays execution of Missouri inmate

The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday put on hold the scheduled execution of a Missouri man convicted of beating three people to death while a lower court considers an appeal.

Ernest Lee Johnson was scheduled to die at 6 p.m. Tuesday for killing three Columbia convenience store workers in 1994. His victims — Mary Bratcher, Mabel Scrubbs and Fred Jones — were bludgeoned to death using a hammer, screwdriver and gun, according to court records.

The U.S. Supreme Court granted a stay of execution while the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals considers an appeal.

Johnson claims that the execution drug to be administered could cause painful seizures because he still has part of a benign tumor in his brain, and surgery to remove the rest of the tumor in 2008 forced removal of up to 20 percent of his brain tissue.

Defense attorney Jeremy Weis said in an interview with Reuters that Johnson has had prior seizures.

A separate appeal to the Missouri Supreme Court claims Johnson has an IQ of 67 and his life should be spared because he is mentally disabled.

The Missouri Supreme Court on Monday turned down Johnson's request that it appoint a judge to consider evidence that he is intellectually disabled and it would be unconstitutional to execute him, local newspaper the Columbia Tribune said.

On Oct. 2, Missouri Gov. Nixon, a Democrat, commuted the sentence of the last man scheduled to die in Missouri, Kimber Edwards, to life in prison.

A total of 25 people have been executed in the United States so far this year, according to the Death Penalty Information Center, including six in Missouri. 

The Missouri Corrections Department had not responded to an interview request at time of publication. 

Al Jazeera and wire services