LAKE CHARLES, La. – A Louisiana prosecutor is seeking an August execution date for a convicted child rapist and murderer in what would be the state's first execution in almost 10 years.
The American Press reports that the Calcasieu District Attorney's Office filed a death warrant Wednesday requesting that Jason Manuel Reeves receive a lethal injection on Aug. 19.
Reeves was convicted of first-degree murder for abducting 4-year-old Mary Jean Thigpen in 2001, raping the child and stabbing her 16 times. After a 2003 mistrial, he was sentenced to death in 2004.
The U.S. Supreme Court denied Reeves' appeal last month.
The newspaper says the execution is unlikely to take place in August because executions are on hold as Louisiana faces challenges finding companies willing to supply the drugs needed for lethal injections.
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