The U.S. Supreme Court has denied a stay of execution for a convicted killer in Alabama.

Justice Clarence Thomas had issued a temporary stay shortly before the execution of Leroy White was scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. Thursday.

A temporary stay gives the court additional time to consider legal arguments in the case. About two-and-a-half hours later the stay was denied.

White was sentenced to die for the 1988 shotgun slaying of his estranged wife, Ruby. White fired while holding their 17-month-old daughter in his arms.

Alabama Gov. Bob Riley, the Alabama Supreme Court and a federal judge in Alabama declined to intervene in the execution earlier Thursday.