Supreme Court asked to block execution of Va. inmate

Virginia plans to execute Alfredo Prieto at 9 p.m. Thursday after Democratic Gov. Terry McAuliffe rejected the El Salvador native's attempt to delay his death sentence this week

Associated Press

RICHMOND, Va. — Attorneys are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to halt the execution of a convicted serial killer in Virginia who claims that he's intellectually disabled.

Virginia plans to execute Alfredo Prieto at 9 p.m. Thursday after Democratic Gov. Terry McAuliffe rejected the El Salvador native's attempt to delay his death sentence this week.

Prieto was on death row in California for raping and murdering a 15-year-old girl when DNA evidence linked him to the 1988 slaying of a young couple in Virginia.

Federal Public Defender Hilary Potashner in California asked the high court Tuesday to stay Prieto's execution so that he can continue to fight his death sentence in California on the grounds that he's intellectually disabled. Prieto's attorneys in Virginia have also asked the court to block the execution.