The execution of a Monroe County man, who was convicted of fatally shooting his girlfriend and their 18-month-old son in their Effort home in 2009, was stayed last week before his scheduled execution.

Michael Parrish, 28, was scheduled to be executed on Oct. 14. Gov. Tom Corbett signed a warrant in August for his execution.Parrish was convicted on March 30, 2012, of killing his girlfriend, Victoria Adams, and their 18-month-old son, Sidney Parrish. On April 2 the same jury that convicted him of first- and second-degree murder, ruled he should die for the murders. The following month he was sentenced to death.The killings occurred at the couple's home near Effort in July 6, 2009. State police at Fern Ridge said Parrish was convinced Adams was cheating on him and that's why he shot her. Parrish's defense attorney said the pressures of fatherhood and his relationship with Adams drove him to the edge and that he snapped when seeing strange men giving her a ride back home that morning.At the time of the killings Parrish was a guard at the Monroe County Correctional Facility.On April 21, 2010, Parrish tried to plead guilty to the killings but county President Judge Ronald Vican rejected the plea, calling Parrish's statements "a defense." He then went on trial.Parrish is an inmate at the state correctional institution at Greene, Franklin Township, Greene County.Executions are stayed when inmates file federal Post-Conviction Relief Act motions challenging their convictions by a county court. The inmates can also file habeas corpus motions challenging state Supreme Court decisions that have upheld their convictions by a county jury.These convictions are usually handled by the Federal Public Defender's Office in Harrisburg.There is no timetable for how long such an appeal will take.