Death row inmate granted temporary stay after apparent suicide attempt

The Georgia Supreme Court has granted a temporary stay to Brandon Rhode, a death row inmate scheduled to be executed via lethal injection tonight, after his apparent suicide attempt this morning.

From the court’s public information officer:

Rhode, 31, was scheduled to die tonight by lethal injection at 7:00 p.m. at the Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Prison in Jackson, GA. Following his apparent suicide attempt, the state Supreme Court has granted a temporary stay, “pending petitioner’s access to counsel” and an opportunity to file an application to challenge his mental competency to be executed.

Rhode, 31, was convicted for the murders of three members of a Jones County family during a failed burglary attempt in 1998.

According to the AJC, Rhode would be the 48th person to be executed by the state since the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1973.