ST. LOUIS (AP) - Attorneys for Missouri death row inmate Michael Taylor have asked a federal court for a stay of execution, citing concerns about the drugs Missouri plans to use.
Taylor is scheduled to die at 12:01 a.m. Feb. 26 for raping and killing a 15-year-old Kansas City girl in 1989. But on Monday, the compounding pharmacy in Oklahoma that provided the pentobarbital used in Missouri executions said it would no longer do so.
Gov. Jay Nixon said Tuesday that Missouri is proceeding with the execution. The state won't discuss details, but it may be using a backup plan that combines the drugs midazolam and hydromorphone.
Concerns about that combination were raised in Ohio in January when it took 26 minutes to execute Dennis McGuire, who made repeated snorting sounds during the process.