TALLAHASSEE, Fla., May 19 (UPI) -- Florida Gov. Charlie Crist may set a date to put child rapist and killer Mark Dean Schwab to death after the U.S. Supreme Court lifted a stay on his execution.
Schwab was scheduled to die by lethal injection in November, but his execution was halted by a federal judge until the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in a case challenging the constitutionality of lethal injection, the Palm Beach (Fla.) Post reported Monday.
The high court in April ruled lethal injection does not constitute cruel and unusual punishment.
Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum asked the Supreme Court in April to lift the stay after justices ruled in the landmark case.
"He has an active warrant and we await word from the governor's office concerning setting a date," said Joellyn Rackleff, a spokeswoman for the Department of Corrections, the Pensacola (Fla.) News-Journal reported.
Schwab faces the death penalty for the 1991 torture, rape and slaying of 11-year-old Junny Rios-Martinez.
