Supreme Court rejects appeal of Texas death row inmate convicted of stabbing Austin teen

WASHINGTON - The United States Supreme Court rejected an appeal from a Texas death row inmate convicted of sexually assaulting and stabbing an Austin high school student to death.

Areli Escobar was convicted and sentenced to death for the 2009 deadly stabbing of Bianca Maldonado, who lived in his apartment complex.

Escobar's legal team says he deserves a new trial over concerns about the evidence presented in the case.

Supreme Court rejects appeal

WASHINGTON, DC (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

What we know:

On Monday, the Supreme Court announced that it will not hear Escobar's appeal.

By rejecting the appeal, a ruling by Texas Court of Criminal Appeals will stand.

The Texas appeals court has denied Escobar's appeals twice after a lower court judge ruled that there were problems with the evidence in the case.

Escobar's team argues that DNA evidence presented at trial from the Austin Police Department's DNA lab was "unreliable, false and misleading."

The DNA lab suspended operations in 2016 after an independent audit by the Texas Forensic Science Commission.

Travis County prosecutors and district attorney Jose Garza did not defend the conviction when the case returned to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals.

What we don't know:

Despite the Supreme Court denying Escobar's appeal, the legal battle is far from over.

Escobar's execution date has not been scheduled.

Similar Oklahoma case's successful appeal

Dig deeper:

The Supreme Court's ruling came as a surprise to some after a similar Oklahoma case was recently overturned by the high court.

Earlier this year, the Supreme Court threw out the murder conviction and death penalty of Richard Glossip.

Glossip was found guilty of killing a motel owner in 1997, but maintained his innocence.

Justices argued that Glossip deserved a new trial after prosecutors decided to allow a key witness to give testimony they knew to be false, violating his constitutional right to a fair trial.

Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond supported a new trial for Glossip.