Oklahoma judge stays Jan. 6 execution for competency hearing

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) – A state court judge in Oklahoma has granted a temporary stay of execution for a death row inmate convicted of killing a security guard during a 2004 bank robbery in Tulsa.

Pittsburg County Associate District Judge Tim Mills issued the stay on Monday so that a competency hearing can be held for 60-year-old Wade Lay.

After a hearing before Mills last week, the judge determined there was “good reason“ to believe Lay is not competent to be executed.

Lay’s attorney Sarah Jernigan has said Lay has a decadeslong history of severe mental illness, including schizophrenia and delusions. In interviews with The Associated Press, Lay has said he believes his attorneys, prison workers and a federal judge are conspiring against him.