Execution halted while court decides if lethal injection 'cruel'

The scheduled execution of a two-time killer has been put on hold while an appeals court considers his petition that death by injection is unconstitutionally cruel.

In a brief three-paragraph order released today, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals blocked the execution of Derrick Sean O’Brien, condemned for the 1993 killings of Jennifer Ertman, 14, and Elizabeth Pena, 16.