A federal judge has issued an order staying the execution of one of two men sentenced to death in the killing of a Kansas City teenager. The Missouri Supreme Court recently set a Feb. 1 execution date for Michael Taylor, who pleaded guilty to first-degree murder, forcible rape, armed criminal action and kidnapping in the March 1989 killing of 15-year-old Ann Harrison.

Harrison was waiting for her school bus when Taylor, now 38, and Roderick Nunley, now 40, forced her into their stolen vehicle. Taylor raped Harrison in Nunley's mother's basement and then helped Nunley kill her because they were afraid she would eventually identify them. Taylor and Nunley have said they had been using drugs and wanted to steal her purse. Both were sentenced to death in 1991.

After their sentences were overturned, they were again sentenced to death in 1994. Taylor's attorney, John William Simon of St. Louis, sought the delay so he could present evidence challenging the constitutionality of Missouri's method of execution. Simon contends that the three-drug sequence Missouri uses to execute its prisoners creates a risk of gratuitous pain and is unnecessary to carry out the goal of "mere extinguishment of life."

Senior U.S. District Judge Scott Wright wrote in the order granting the stay that he will issue a decision "within a reasonable time" after considering Simon's argument during a hearing set for Feb. 21 and, if needed, Feb. 22. The Missouri attorney general's office has filed a notice of appeal.