A murderer has been granted a stay of execution after his death warrant was improperly filed.
Ray Cromartie has been on Death Row for more than 20 years and was due to die by lethal injection at around 11pm [UK time] today.
However, the Georgia Supreme Court halted the execution at the last minute after deciding the execution order was not valid.
The court announced it would 'immediately' push for a new order, however it is not clear when this will be issued.
Cromartie was convicted of shooting and killing a shop worker in a botched beer robbery.
The now 52 year old murdered store clerk Richard Slysz in 1994.
On April 7 that year, Cromartie borrowed a gun from his cousin and went to the Madison Street Deli in Thomasville and shot and wounded store clerk, Dan Wilson, in the face, court papers said.
Three days later, Cromartie and his friends Corey Clark and Thaddeus Lucas went to Junior Food Store in Thomasville, Georgia to steal beer.
When they entered the store, Cromartie shot Slysz twice in the head, killing him, prosecutors said.
The two criminals then tried to open the cash register but were unsuccessful.
Cromartie took two 12-packs of Budweiser beer and the men fled, according to court papers.
The killer was arrested three days later. During the trial, Clark and Lucas testified against Cromartie.
Both men pleaded guilty to lesser charges, court papers showed.
Cromartie has filed unsuccessful appeals with state and federal courts on several grounds since his conviction.
The State Board of Pardons and Paroles in Georgia refused to stay his case and denied Cromartie clemency on Tuesday.
Cromartie requested the board to intervene so federal courts could rule on his request that DNA testing be done on evidence in his criminal case.
The United States Supreme Court rejected Cromartie's request for an appeal in his case in December 2018.
Cromartie would have been the 18th inmate in the United States and the third inmate in Georgia to be executed in 2019, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.
