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High Court Blocks Execution Of Child Killer

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High Court Blocks Execution Of Child Killer

JACKSONVILLE (CBS4) ― Just hours after a federal appeals court ruled that the execution of Florida child killer Mark Schwab can proceed, the U.S. Supreme Court has stepped in and halted it.

The high court is considering the appeals of two Kentucky inmates challenging the toxic three-drug combination administered there. Florida uses the same drugs and Schwab's attorneys claim the chemicals violate the Eighth Amendment ban on cruel and unusual punishment.

Schwab was scheduled to die Thursday night for the 1991 kidnapping, rape and murder of 11-year old Junny Rios-Martinez.

Scwab's execution, if it had gone through, would have been the first Florida execution since the botched injection of Angel Diaz last December. It took twice as long as normal for him to die because the guards pushed the needles through his veins.

(© 2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)