(CNN) -- A Texas court granted a stay of execution for convicted murderer Henry "Hank" Skinner on Monday, giving Skinner time to pursue DNA testing his lawyers say could prove his innocence. Skinner had been scheduled to die by lethal injection Wednesday evening for the New Year's Eve 1993 killings of his live-in girlfriend, Twila Busby, and her two adult sons in the Texas Panhandle town of Pampa. But the state Court of Criminal Appeals halted the proceeding Monday afternoon, ruling that it needed time to review the state's revised law on DNA testing. In a written statement, Skinner's lawyer, Rob Owen, said the decision "has ensured that Mr. Skinner's request for DNA testing will receive the thorough and serious consideration it deserves."
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Henry "Hank" Skinner was scheduled for execution Wednesday in Texas
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A state appeals court granted a stay of execution
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Skinner's lawyers say DNA testing could prove his innocence
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He was convicted of killing his girlfriend and her two adult sons in 1993
A female friend of Skinner's who lived four blocks away testified at his trial that he walked to her mobile home and told her that he may have kicked @placeholder to death, although evidence did not show she had been kicked.
Busby's family, including @placeholder's surviving daughter, believes Skinner is guilty.