ST. CHARLES COUNTY, Mo. – Richard Emery, a man who was sentenced to death for the 2018 murders of his girlfriend and three of her family members in St. Charles, has been granted a stay of execution, delaying an execution date scheduled for next month.

The Missouri Supreme Court formally granted a stay of execution on Tuesday. This halts a state execution of Emery previously scheduled for April 22, according to Missouri court records.

The stay remains in effect while Emery’s attorneys prepare to file a writ of certiorari petition with the U.S. Supreme Court by March 24, in which they plan to challenge aspects of his conviction and sentencing on constitutional grounds.

In Sept. 2022, Emery was convicted on four counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of his girlfriend, 39-year-old Kate Kasten, her two children from a previous relationship, 10-year-old Jonathan and 8-year-old Zoe, and Kate’s mother, 61-year-old Jane Moeckel.

Prosecutors sought the death penalty over the murder charges, and nearly one year later, Emery was sentenced to death, along with an additional 210-year sentence.

According to previous FOX 2 reports on court proceedings, Emery had gone out drinking and played poker on the evening of Dec. 28, 2018. When he returned home, he got into an argument with Kate. At some point, Emery retrieved a handgun, and he and Kate struggled for the weapon.

Emery later retrieved the weapon and fired nine shots at the home. Investigators say Emery shot Kate’s mother, Moeckel, while she was on the phone with 911 dispatchers, along with her two grandchildren as they were barricaded in another room.

After the shooting, Emery left the home with a pistol and an AR-15 rifle, including 500 rounds of ammunition, and a knife. He drove away from the home as police arrived at the scene. That officer radioed colleagues to stop Emery’s truck.

Emery was pulled over and exchanged gunfire with police. He then fired several shots and fled. Emery suffered two gunshot wounds during the shootout, though he did not take the AR-15 with him.

After that, investigators said Emery eventually came across a woman who was leaving a Christmas party. Emery, who still had his knife, carjacked the woman and attacked her. He stabbed the woman seven times, five in her chest, but ran off when the car alarm went off. The woman survived.

Emery was captured the morning after the shootings at a St. Charles QuikTrip, where police found him in a bathroom, covered in blood.

During his trial in 2022, Emery claimed he remembered gunshots going off, but also claimed he did not deliberately shoot Kate, Jonathan, Zoe, and Jane. Emery said he felt like he was in a video game as an argument with his girlfriend escalated, culminating with the murders.

His public defense attorneys previously presented a diminished capacity case to the jury, claiming he’d been diagnosed with borderline personality disorder and was not in control of himself at the time of the murders.

NOTE: Video attached to this story is FOX 2’s coverage of Emery court proceedings from Oct. 2022.