HUNTSVILLE, Texas (AP) — A Texas death row inmate has lost a federal court appeal that sought to halt his scheduled execution this week for the slaying of a retired South Texas sheriff’s deputy during a holdup 10 years ago.

Attorneys for John Quintanilla (kin-tuh-NEE’-uh) have told state lawyers they’ll now head to the U.S. Supreme Court to try to save the 36-year-old from lethal injection Tuesday evening in Huntsville.

The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals over the weekend refused Quintanilla’s appeal. He’s facing punishment for the fatal shooting of 60-year-old Victor Billings during a robbery in Victoria in 2002. Billings was a retired chief deputy from Jackson County and was at the amusement center with his wife.

The execution would be the first of two set for this week in Texas.

Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.