The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to hear an appeal for a Mississippi death row inmate convicted of killing a 17-year-old in 2008.

Leslie “Bo” Galloway III, 41, was found guilty in 2010 of running Shakeylia Anderson over with a vehicle, and her body was later found severely burned in a wooded area near a highway in Harrison County. Prosecutors said Anderson, a senior at Harrison Central High School, had also been sexually assaulted.

While the Supreme Court’s decision effectively ends this appeal, Galloway still has a separate legal challenge underway in federal court. His defense team, led by the ACLU’s capital punishment project, claims he received ineffective legal representation during his trial. Attorney Claudia Van Wyk argues that crucial details about Galloway’s difficult life were not presented to the jury, which might have influenced them to issue a life sentence instead of the death penalty.

Galloway’s pending federal appeal, overseen by U.S. District Judge Carlton Reeves, raises concerns about racial bias during jury selection and alleges that the forensic evidence presented in the original trial was flawed. The appeal contends that Galloway, who is Black, was convicted by an all-white jury after prosecutors disproportionately removed Black jurors.

Judge Reeves has given attorneys until July 2024 to respond to the federal appeal. Meanwhile, Galloway has exhausted his options in the state courts, with the Mississippi Supreme Court upholding his conviction in 2013.