MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — The Latest on the scheduled execution of an Alabama inmate (all times local):

4 p.m.

A federal judge has postponed the scheduled lethal injection of an Alabama inmate for 60 days.

U.S. District Judge Kristi K. DuBose issued the stay Thursday, hours before 46-year-old Christopher Lee Price was scheduled to receive a lethal injection for the 1991 stabbing death of a pastor.

His attorneys argued that lethal injections have been "botched" and said execution by nitrogen hypoxia is a viable alternative.

DuBose said that although the state "certainly has an interest in carrying out the execution as expeditiously as possible, a short sixty-day stay will not substantially harm this interest."

She gave the state until May 10 to submit evidence in contradiction to Price's contention.

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2:50 p.m.

The state of Alabama is asking a federal court to reject the claims of an inmate who's seeking a last-minute postponement of his lethal injection.

State attorneys filed a document Thursday saying 46-year-old Christopher Lee Price waited too late to claim that death by nitrogen gas would be less painful than lethal injection.

The state also says there's no indication Price could prove any of his arguments with evidence.

The filings came just hours before Price is scheduled to receive a lethal injection for the 1991 stabbing death of a pastor, Bill Lynn.

Lynn was killed in a robbery on Dec. 22, 1991, while preparing Christmas gifts for his grandchildren.

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1:25 p.m.

An Alabama inmate is citing a study theorizing that death by nitrogen would be painless as he seeks to stop his upcoming lethal injection.

The last-minute legal filings came hours before Christopher Price is scheduled to receive a lethal injection for the 1991 stabbing death of a pastor.

Attorneys on Thursday asked a federal judge in Alabama to issue an injunction, arguing the study backs up the idea that nitrogen hypoxia is a viable alternative.

Alabama has authorized the use of nitrogen for executions but has not used it.

His attorneys filed the study done by medical professors after an appellate court ruled he had not shown nitrogen hypoxia will reduce the risk of pain.

The study was done for a lawmaker in Oklahoma which has also authorized the use of nitrogen for executions.

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Noon

An Alabama inmate is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to halt his upcoming lethal injection.

Forty-six-year-old Christopher Lee Price is scheduled to receive a lethal injection Thursday evening for the 1991 stabbing death of a pastor.

Price's attorney asked justices to stay the execution to review whether a lower court erred in rejecting his bid for a stay after he asked to put to death by nitrogen hypoxia.

Price's attorney wrote that Alabama's lethal injection drug combination has been linked to botched executions, and Alabama law allows the use of nitrogen.

Although Alabama has authorized nitrogen as an execution method, the state has argued that it is not ready to use it. The state said Price missed a deadline to select it as his preferred execution method.

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12:10 a.m.

A man convicted of the sword-and-dagger stabbing death of a pastor is set to become the second person executed in Alabama this year, barring a last-minute stay.

Forty-six-year-old Christopher Lee Price is scheduled to receive a chemical injection Thursday evening for his conviction in the death of Bill Lynn. The 57-year-old pastor was killed in a Dec. 22, 1991, robbery while preparing Christmas gifts for his grandchildren. Prosecutors said Lynn was at his Fayette County home when power was cut and the pastor went out to check the fuse box and was killed.

Lynn's wife testified she looked out a window and saw a person dressed in black in a karate stance, holding a sword above her husband's head. An autopsy showed that Lynn had been cut or stabbed more than 30 times.