A Texas judge on Tuesday halted the execution of an inmate convicted of stabbing a corrections officer to death more than 15 years ago, reports the Associated Press .
Robert Pruett received the reprieve from Judge Bert Richardson just hours before he could have been taken to the Texas death chamber at a Huntsville prison. Richardson's order was in response to a motion from Pruett's attorneys, who sought new DNA tests on the piece of metal used to kill 37-year-old officer Daniel Nagle in December 1999 at a South Texas prison.
