ST. LOUIS (AP) – A 46-year-old Missouri inmate facing a late January death for the fatal stabbing of a St. Louis County woman during a 1998 burglary wants a federal judge to halt his execution and order DNA testing which he claims could prove his innocence.

KWMU-FM reported that Marcellus Williams filed suit Monday. He is scheduled to die on January 29 in Missouri’s first execution of the new year after a state-record 10 inmates were put to death in 2014.

Lisha Gayle, a former St. Louis Post-Dispatch reporter, was killed at her home in University City. Williams was convicted of burglarizing the home and then killing Gayle after she discovered him while getting out of the shower.