The Latest: Killer set to be executed appeals to high court

RICHMOND, Va. – The Latest on the scheduled execution of a man convicted of killing a family of four in Virginia (all times local):

2:45 p.m.

A Virginia inmate scheduled to be put to death this week for the slayings of two young girls has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to halt his execution.

Ricky Gray filed an emergency appeal with the high court on Tuesday. Gray is scheduled to be executed Wednesday for the slayings of 9-year-old Stella Harvey and her 4-year-old sister Ruby. Gray was convicted of killing the girls and their parents at their home on New Year’s Day 2006.

Gray is challenging the state’s plans to use lethal injection drugs from a secret compounding pharmacy. A federal court in Richmond and the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals have rejected Gray’s efforts to put his execution on hold so that he can bring his legal challenge.

Grey says the use of compounded midazolam will cause him a cruel and painful death.

___

2:30 p.m.

Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe will not spare the life of a man convicted of murdering a well-known family of four in Richmond.

The Democratic governor said in a statement Tuesday that he will not commute Gray’s sentence to life in prison. The governor says Ricky Gray had a “fair and impartial trial” and that he has found no reason to intervene in the matter.

Grey is scheduled to be executed Wednesday for the slayings of 9-year-old Stella Harvey and her 4-year-old sister Ruby. Gray was convicted of killing the girls and their parents in 2006.

Gray’s attorneys had asked for clemency, saying the man’s sexual abuse as a child and subsequent drug use provides an understanding of his actions that wasn’t presented to jurors.