Video: Manning Wins Round in Pursuit of DNA Testing

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JACKSON, Miss. (AP) – The Mississippi Supreme Court has granted death row inmate Willie Jerome Manning’s request to seek approval for DNA and fingerprint testing as Manning pursues a new trial in the slayings of two college students.

The order Thursday reversed an earlier decision in which the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 against Manning’s request for DNA testing.

Manning argues technological strides in the past two decades in DNA testing could lead to proof that he is innocent of killing two Mississippi State University students in 1992.

The Supreme Court had stopped Manning’s execution on May 7 so it could further review Manning’s arguments.

The bodies of Jon Steckler and Tiffany Miller were found in rural Oktibbeha County. Manning was convicted in 1994 and sentenced to death.